RESEARCH NOTES

 Common pathways between PFS and post-SSRI sexual dysfunction could be useful in designing therapeutic strategies for both conditions, according to new University of Milano study
April 30, 2018
 
Dear Friends:
 
Roberto Cosimo Melcangi, Ph.D. , head of the Neuroendocrinology Unit in the Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Milano, has published a new paper in the current issue of Endocrine: International Journal of Basic and Clinical Endocrinology.
Titled Post-finasteride syndrome and post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: two sides of the same coin? the nine-page review "discusses the knowledge accumulated so far on the pathological phenotype of post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) and a post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD)."

“Sexual dysfunction is a feature shared by PFS and PSSD. This common aspect could be casual or rather be determined by common mechanisms that, once detected, could be useful to understand the pathophysiology and to possibly design therapeutic strategies for these conditions,” writes Prof. Melcangi, whose research team on this project includes Silvia Giatti, Silvia Diviccarom, and Giancarlo Panzica.
 
“In particular…neuroactive steroids, serotonin and dopamine are variably interconnected with PSSD and PFS… The finding that both PFS and PSSD, and consequently the persistent sexual dysfunction observed, occurred only in a limited number of patients may suggest possible epigenetic mechanisms,” he adds.
 
Please note that this review is separate from Prof. Melcangi’s current study, designed to examine epigenetic changes in PFS patients. For details on that research, which we announced in January, please access our Foundation News page.
 
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Thank you.
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