Topical alprostadil promising for female sexual arousal disorder

Topical alprostadil (Alista) appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of female sexual arousal disorder in premenopausal women, according to a phase II clinical study presented at the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health annual meeting.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover-design study evaluated 51 premenopausal women with female sexual arousal disorder. The women administered the treatment at home. Each treatment period lasted 2 months, and treatments were administered in random order.

Alprostadil significantly increased the number of successful and satisfactory sexual events by about one-half over placebo (p<.021) in 25 women who completed at least six doses each of alprostadil and placebo, reported Stephanie Kuffel, PhD, of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.

The study showed that about 64% of alprostadil doses resulted in satisfactory sexual events (p<.05 when compared with placebo) in 36 women who received at least one dose each of placebo and alprostadil.