Assessment of Folate Deficiency in Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation as a Potential Risk Factor

Abstract

Background:Erectile dysfunction (ED) is defined as the inability to achieve and maintain an erection sufficient to permit satisfactory sexual intercourse. A high prevalence of ED has been reported in many studies particularly in developing countries. Aim:The aim of the work is to measure the level of folic acid in serum in erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation male to explain if folate deficiency can be a risk factor of male sexual dysfunction.Subjects:This study is designed to be a case-control study that will be carried out on 20 patients with erectile dysfunction, 20 patients with premature ejaculation and 20 healthy controls. Patients will be randomly selected from the outpatient Andrology clinic at Ain Shams University Hospitals.Results:The results showed significantly higher values of FA in serum of healthy controls without any sexual disorder (group C) and significantly lower values of FA in serum of patients with PE (group B) with lower values of FA found in patients with ED (group A).On the other hand, there was no significant difference between serum FA level in PE (group B) and ED (group A).Smoking showed no significant effect on serum FA level in any of the 3 groups. However, we found that the more the age of PE patients in group (B) the more the level of serum FA while in group (A) there is no relation between level of serum FA and age of ED patients.Conclusion: this study concluded that low serum FA plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ED and PE.Recommendations:Further studies should be conducted to evaluate other roles of folic acid in the pathogenesis of ED and PE and to assess the effect of administration of folic acid on patients with PE or ED. Keywords:ED:Erectile dysfunction, FA: Folic acid, PE: Premature ejaculation