A novel reuptake inhibitor, IP2015, induces erection by increasing central dopamine and peripheral nitric oxide release.

Background and Purpose: An estimated 40% of patients with erectile dysfunction have a poor prognosis for improvement with currently available treatments. The present study investigated whether a newly developed monoamine transport inhibitor, IP2015, improves erectile function.
Experimental Approach: We investigated the effects of IP2015 on monoamine uptake and binding, erectile function in rats and diabetic mice and the effect on corpus cavernosum contractility.
Key Results: IP2015 inhibited the uptake of 5-HT, noradrenaline and dopamine by human monoamine transporters expressed in cells and in rat brain synaptosomes. Intracavernosal pressure measurement in anaesthetized rats revealed that IP2015 dose-dependently increased the number and the duration of spontaneous erections. Whereas pretreatment with the dopamine D ₂ -like receptor antagonists, clozapine and (-)-sulpiride, or cutting the cavernosal nerve inhibited IP2015-induced erectile responses, the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor sildenafil further enhanced the IP2015-mediated increase in intracavernosal pressure. IP2015 also increased the number of erections in type 2 diabetic db/db mice. Direct intracavernosal injection of IP2015 increased penile pressure, and in corpus cavernosum strips, IP2015 induced concentration-dependent relaxations. These relaxations were enhanced by sildenafil and blunted by endothelial cell removal, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, N ^G -nitro-l-arginine and a D ₁ -like receptor antagonist, SCH23390. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) showed the expression of the dopamine transporter in the rat corpus cavernosum.
Conclusion and Implications: Our findings suggest that IP2015 stimulates erectile function by a central mechanism involving dopamine reuptake inhibition and direct NO-mediated relaxation of the erectile tissue. This novel multi-modal mechanism of action could offer a new treatment approach to erectile dysfunction.
(© 2024 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Pharmacological Society.)