Vitamin B6 and Folic Acid Improves ED

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is closely linked with heart disease.  The MTHFR gene  677T mutation is often found in people with heart disease.  Higher levels of homocysteine are also linked with the MTHFR gene C677T mutation. Homocysteine is a toxic amino acid that damages blood vessels and is a biomarker for heart disease when elevated in the blood. Now research reports that vitamin B6 and folic acid supplementation improved ED in men with high homocysteine levels.

The study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, examined the association of high levels of homocysteine and MTHFR C677T mutation in patients with ED. Researchers at the University of Rome, Italy, administered sidenafil citrate (Viagra) to 75 men with ED (ages 25 to 65) for 2 months. The participants who did not respond to the drug were then treated with 600 mg vitamin B6 weekly and 15 mg folic acid daily with sidenafil citrate for another 6 weeks. Blood samples were taken from the participants and analyzed for the MTHFR gene C677T mutation, homocysteine and folate levels. The researchers evaluated the participants' erectile dysfunction with the International Index for Erectile Function questionnaire. 

The researchers found that all of the participants who did not respond to the sidenafil citrate treatment had low folic acid levels and high homocysteine levels. After treatment with vitamin B6 and folic acid, almost all of the participants had improvement in ED. Furthermore, their homocysteine levels decreased and folic acid levels increased.

"Hyperhomocysteinemia in patients homozygotes for the C677T mutation may interfere with erection mechanisms and thus be responsible for ED," the study authors conclude.

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