Genetic Factors of Erectile Dysfunction Degree and Response to Tadalafil Treatment in Patients With Diabetes

We will include in the study 90 patients with diabetes and erectile dysfunction. We will use the IIEF-5 questionnaire to confirm the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction. Patients between the ages of 40 and 65 who score 21 points or less on the IIEF-5 scale will be included in the study.

The research will be clinically pharmacological, prospective, interventional and genetic-associative. Patients will be selected sequentially, according to their willingness to participate in the research, taking into account the inclusion and exclusion criteria. As a result, they will not be subject to randomization. At the first examination and after signing the informed consent form for participation in the research, blood will be taken from the patients for laboratory and molecular genetic tests, they will receive the drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction tadalafil, which they will receive in a dose of 5 mg daily for a period of three months . After three months, patients will complete the IIEF-5 questionnaire again.

At the beginning of the research, we will explain the course and purpose of the research to the people involved, they will fill out a consent form for participating in the research. Upon inclusion, we will perform the following on all subjects:

• History and clinical examination (including weight, height and body mass index). The degree of erectile dysfunction will be classified using the IIEF-5 questionnaire into four categories, namely severe (5-7 points), moderate (8-11 points), mild to moderate (12-16 points) and mild form (17-21 points ) of erectile dysfunction.
• Laboratory tests Peripheral venous blood will be taken to determine laboratory parameters: renal function, hepatogram, lipidogram, HbA1c (TIR), PSA, TSH, LH, FSH, PRL, SHBG, testosterone (total and free), folic acid.
• Molecular genetic tests 3-5 ml of peripheral venous blood will be taken from the examinees in a test tube with EDTA. Centrifugation will separate the blood plasma from the cellular part of the blood. Genomic DNA will be isolated from the cellular part of the blood using commercial reagent sets (DNA Mini Kit and Flexigene DNA kit; Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). To determine polymorphisms of individual nucleotides in the genes of the synthesis pathway, NO function and folate pathway, we will use modern high-throughput methods based on the real-time PCR reaction, such as the 5'-exonuclease test (TaqMan SNP genotyping assay; Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA , USA) and allele-specific competitive PCR reactions (KASPar assay; KBiosciences, Herts, UK).

Candidate genes were selected based on a literature review, focusing on pathways related to the molecular pathogenesis of erectile dysfunction and pathways related to the metabolism and action of tadalafil. Based on a review of the databases (dbSNP, PharmGKB) and the literature, we searched for genetic changes in the mentioned genes that are common in the white race and affect the expression of the gene or the function of the written protein. Based on this, we decided to include the following genes and polymorphisms in the analysis: