An angiotensin II receptor blocker increases sexual behavior in type 2 diabetic mice

The present study was conducted to examine the effects of olmersartan, angiotensin (ANG) 11 type I (AT,) receptor antagonist, on the sexual function in type 2 diabetes model mice. Twenty-week-old KK/Ta mice were used as a model of type 2 diabetes. Age-matched ICR and BALB/C mice were used as non-diabetic controls. The animals were fed powder chow either with or without olmesartan (7.5 mu g/g in chow) for 4 weeks. The levels of sexual behavior, activity, and anxiety were then examined between the groups treated with and without ohnesartan. The KK/Ta mice treated with olmesartan exhibited a significant increase in the number of mounts and intromission and a decrease in the latency to the first mount in comparison to the KK/Ta mice treated without olmesartan. These effects of olmesartan were not observed in the non-diabetic BALB/C and ICR mice. In addition, the olmesartan treatment did not affect the activity and anxiety regardless of the mouse strain. These findings suggest that the interaction between ANG H and AT, receptor may be involved in the pathogenesis of the sexual dysfunction associated with type 2 diabetes and a blockade of ANG 11 may therefore be a potentially useful treatment for male sexual dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.