Trial tanning agent found to enhance female desire

[David Morris]

http://www.sltrib.com/homeandfamily/ci_5628199

More recently, another potentially promising treatment for hypoactive
desire has been making its way through clinical trials. The compound,
called bremelanotide, is a synthetic version of a hormone involved in
skin pigmentation, and it was initially developed by Palatin
Technologies of New Jersey as a potential tanning agent to help
prevent skin cancer. But when male college students participating in
early safety tests began reporting that the drug sometimes gave them
erections, the company began exploring bremelanotide's utility as a
treatment for sexual disorders.

    Studies in rodents demonstrated that the drug not only gave male
rats spontaneous erections, but also fomented sexual excitement in
female rats, prompting them to wiggle their ears, hop excitedly, rub
noses with males and otherwise display unmistakable hallmarks of
rodent arousal.

    Importantly, the females responded to the drug only under
laboratory conditions where they could maintain a sense of control
over the mating game. Take away the female's opportunity to escape or
proceed at her preferred pace, and no amount of bremelanotide would
get those ears to wiggle. In other words, Annette M. Shadiack,
director of biological research of Palatin, said, "this doesn't look
like a potential date-rape drug."

    Inspired by the rodent work, the company decided to give the drug
a whirl on women. Results from a pilot study of 26 postmenopausal
women with diagnoses of sexual arousal disorder suggest that
bremelanotide may well have some mild aphrodisiacal properties.

    Responding to questionnaires after taking either the drug or a
dummy pill, 73 percent of the women on bremelanotide reported feeling
genitally aroused, compared with 23 percent given the placebo; and 43
percent of the bremelanotide group said the treatment augmented their
sexual desire, against only 19 percent of those on dummy pills.

    Women in the treatment group also were slightly more likely to
have sex with their partners during the course of the trial than were
those in the control group, although who initiated the romps was not
specified.

    Larger trials of the drug at some 20 clinical centers around the
United States are now under way. Among other things, the researchers
will try adjusting the dosage to see if more bremelanotide may provoke
a more robust response with a minimum of unpleasant or embarrassing
side effects.

    For example, researchers are as yet unsure whether sustained use
of bremelanotide will end up doing what the drug was meant to do in
the first place, and bestow on its beaming clients a truly healthy
tan.