AN APHRODISIAC nasal spray that is more potent than an oyster and
faster-acting than Viagra has been developed by researchers in the US. If
clinical trials are successful, this 鈥渄esire aerosol鈥� could provide the first
effective treatment for women who suffer from a low libido.
Tests on animals and people have shown that the experimental drug PT-141 made
by Palatin Technologies in Edison, New Jersey, can stimulate desire and sexually
arouse both sexes. But unlike Viagra, the target of PT-141 is the brain rather
than the sexual organs.
PT-141 is a synthetic copy of a naturally occurring neuropeptide called
a-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. MSH plays a role in stimulating sexual
function and appetite. Within 10 to 15 minutes of squirting PT-141 up the nose,
the drug activates melanocortin receptors in the hypothalamus region of the
brain. This prompts the release of other sex hormones in a domino-like effect,
says neuroscientist Annette Shadiack, who directs the biological research at
Palatin. 鈥淧T-141 triggers the centre where nature would normally start sexual
behaviour,鈥� she says.
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Shadiack and her colleagues at Concordia University in Montreal tested PT-141
on female rats and found that those on the drug actively engaged in foreplay and
solicited sex from their male partners seven to eight times as often as the rats
in the control group.
The more PT-141 the female rats received, the greater the effect. During the
30-minute test period the insatiable rats copulated up to four times. 鈥淭he
females had a greater motivation for sex while on drugs,鈥� says Shadiack, who
believes that PT-141 could be used to treat women who suffer from low libido. It
could also help women with physical arousal problems, since the two are often
linked.
Palatin recently completed a pre-clinical safety trial of the spray in men
and found no changes in blood pressure, heart rate or respiration
rate鈥攁dverse effects that are often associated with taking Viagra.
Although the trial was not designed to test its effectiveness in arousing men,
some of those who took PT-141 experienced spontaneous erections.
So far, the only drug capable of increasing a woman鈥檚 sex drive is
Wellbutrin. But this prescription drug is an antidepressant, and improved sex
drive is only a side effect. There are other drugs that act on the brain鈥檚
sexual centre, such as apomorphine and Melantan II, which is also a synthetic
form of MSH. But these drugs have the libido-dampening effects of inducing a
feeling of nausea and vomiting. In the trials so far, there has been no sign of
these sickening side effects with PT-141.
Palatin will begin clinical trials next year to test their bottled
aphrodisiac in both men and women. And who knows, if all goes well nostrils
could one day become an erogenous zone.