Objective: To investigate the relationship of erectile dysfunction (ED) with blood vessel-, nerve- and androgen-related factors in young and middle-aged men with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in order to provide some clinical evidence for early prevention and treatment of ED.
Methods: We divided 53 male T2DM patients under 50 years into an ED group (IIEF-5 score < or = 21, n = 28) and a non-ED (NED) group (IIEF-5 score > or = 22, n = 25). We detected the levels of blood lipid, glucose, total testosterone (TT), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), sulfate dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA-S), calculated free testosterone (cFT), and examined the complications of macroangiopathy (MA), diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), and compared the above indicators between the two groups.
Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in age, diabetes duration, body mass index, blood pressure, and blood lipid and glucose levels (P > 0.05). The incidence rate of DR was significantly higher in the ED than in the NED group (39.3% vs 4.0%, P < 0.05), but no statistically significant differences were found in the levels of TT, cFT, SHBG and DHEA-S and the incidence rates of MA and DPN between the two groups (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The incidence of ED is closely related to DR in young and middle-aged men with T2DM. Therefore particular attention should be paid to the erectile function of T2DM patients with DR as early as possible.