Possible therapy for long erections

HOUSTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The cause of priapism, spontaneous long-lasting erections lasting at least four hours, is unknown but U.S. researchers say there may be a treatment.

Biochemists in the laboratory of Dr. Yang Xia, an associate professor at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, reports a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug called polyethylene glycol-linked adenosine deaminase relieved symptoms and a major complication in a pre-clinical study.

Xia said priapism is linked to elevated levels of a signaling molecule called adenosine. The link was discovered by Xia and her colleagues when they noticed that genetically-deficient mice with elevated levels of adenosine also had spontaneous erections lasting many hours.

"In this latest study, we show in mouse models that we can prevent a major complication of priapism called penile fibrosis, which is scarring of the penis and can lead to erectile dysfunction," Xia said in a statement. "We built on our earlier work, which showed that we can prevent and treat priapism in mouse models."

The drug was associated with reduced penile fibrosis. No serious side effects were reported, the researchers said.

The findings appear online ahead of print in March issue of the journal of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.