Science: Drug Looms as Aphrodisiac for Women

Society | July 2, 2004, Friday // 00:00

A drug that seems to drive female rats mad for sex may offer the first real scientific female aphrodisiac, Canadian and US researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The drug, Palatin Technologies Inc's PT-141, is being developed for use to fight impotence in men, but the scientists said tests showed it also aroused female rats. PT-141 is the first of a new class of drugs called melanocortin agonists being developed to treat sexual dysfunction.

Thus the PT-141 may prove to be the first identified pharmacological agent with the capability to treat female sexual desire disorders.

The female rats flirted more when injected with the drug and treated with the highest dose of PT-141 they even attempted to mount the males, which is considered a sign of sexual impatience in rats.

Although the sexual behavior of rats is different from that of humans, the effects of pharmacological manipulations of appetitive and consummatory sexual behaviors are similar in male rates and men, according to the researchers. The same is probably true of women.

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