The aim of the study was to investigate the ability of the blood lipids parameters to predict the discrimination of arteriogenic erectile dysfunction (ED) MATERIALS AND METHODS: 260 subjects with ED and 60 healthy controls were enrolled. Eight lipid parameters, including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), LDL-C, HDL-C, non-HDL-C, TC/HDL ratio, TG/HDL ratio and LDL/HDL ratio, together with other plasma biomarkers like sex hormones were measured in all participants. Nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT), penile color Doppler ultrasonography (pDUS), and neurophysiological tests were conducted in the ED group.
Forty-four ED patients with normal NPT and 84 with normal vasculature or mixed vascular abnormalities were excluded. The remaining 132 men were classified into two groups, arteriogenic ED (n = 87) and venous leakage (n = 45), by pDUS. TC/HDL, LDL/HDL and LDL-C were significantly higher (P < 0.05) and HDL-C was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the arteriogenic ED group when compared with the venous and the control groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified area under the curve values that were predictive of arteriogenic ED for; TC/HDL and LDL/HDL 0.720 and 0.737, TC/HDL ≥3.73 and LDL/HDL ≥2.01 (sensitivity: 56.3%; specificity: 83.3% vs sensitivity: 55.2%; specificity: 91.7%), HDL-C (0.791), ≤1.25mmol/L (sensitivity: 69%; specificity: 81.7%), LDL-C (0.641), ≥2.41mmol/L (sensitivity: 55.2%; specificity: 76.7%).In the arteriogenic ED group, a significant inverse correlation was detected between TC/HDL, LDL/HDL, LDL-C and 10-min peak systolic velocity (PSV) (All P<0.01)and a significant positive correlation was recognized between HDL-C and 10-min PSV(P<0.01) . Multivariate step wise linear regression indicated lipid parameters of LDL/HDL and HDL-C were significantly associated with 10-MinPSV (P < 0.01).
These findings suggest the LDL/HDL and HDL-C might be a powerful indicator to predict and diagnose arteriogenic ED, and lipid-lowing therapy should be considered for these patients.
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