Erectile dysfunction is characterized by the inability to achieve or maintain an erection that allows satisfactory sexual relations and can be due to different causes, both physical and psychological, although the Spanish Association of Urology indicates that the most common thing is that this pathology is due to vascular problems, since “the penis is an organ with tremendous vascularization.” They also point out that it is “a much more common pathology than we think, and can affect up to 12% of Spaniards, taking into account that in the first decades of life (0-50 years) it is rare.”
A new study by researchers at the Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University (Sweden) has now discovered a potential way to prevent the onset of this disorder of male sexual function, as it shows that an increase in the frequency of erections leads to more fibroblasts that promote erection, and vice versa, that is, a lower number of erections results in a decrease in these cells, as explained by Christian Göritz, principal researcher at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institute, who has directed the study.
The research has been carried out with mice and its results have been published in Science. Researchers have proven that connective tissue cells called fibroblasts have a previously unknown and very important function in erection. Specifically, the study shows that fibroblasts mediate erection by absorbing the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, which causes the widening of blood vessels in the penis. The effectiveness of this process depends on the number of fibroblasts.
Train the ability to get an erection
“Fibroblasts are the most abundant cells in the penis in both mice and men, but they have not been taken into account much in research,” says Eduardo Guimaraes, researcher at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institutet and lead author of the study. “We can now show, using a very precise technique called optogenetics, that they play a very important role in regulating blood flow in the penis, which is what makes the penis erect.”
The researchers were also able to show that the frequency of erections influences the number of fibroblasts in the penis, and that the more frequent they are, the more fibroblasts and, conversely, a lower frequency of erections reduced the number of fibroblasts. “Actually, it’s not that strange. If you try hard, your body adapts. If you run regularly, over time you will find it easier to breathe while running,” explains Christian Göritz.
It might be possible to train your ability to get an erection to counteract impotence, in the same way you can train your strength in the gym.
As for the conclusions that can be drawn from studies on mice for humans, the researcher says that in this case there are significant similarities. “The basic mechanisms of erection are very similar in all mammals in terms of anatomy, cellular structure, etc.,” he says. “However, there is one difference between humans and most mammals: they have a bone in their penis. “This means that effective regulation of blood flow is probably even more important for human reproduction.”
The older mice had fewer fibroblasts in the penis, which was also reflected in less blood flow. The ability to get an erection decreases with age in humans as well, which could be due in part to fewer fibroblasts in the penis. Therefore, researchers believe it might be possible to train the ability to get an erection to counteract impotence, in the same way you can train your strength or fitness in the gym.
This isn’t something we’ve shown in our study, so it’s a bit speculative, but a reasonable interpretation is that it becomes easier if you have regular erections, says Göritz, who hopes that new knowledge of the role fibroblasts play in erection may also contribute to developing new treatments for erectile dysfunction.
