What is the role of Sildenafil in cardiovascular diseases?
Sildenafil is mainly used to initiate and maintain erection through increasing the blood flow to the sexual organs (penis). It is a PDE-5 inhibitor that increases cyclic GMP by inhibiting its catabolism; thus enhancing nitric oxide-induced vasodilation (i.e. its action potentiates the nitrate actions; so IHD patients receiving nitrates should be careful about this point). It is also tried in primary pulmonary hypertension where in addition to direct vasodilation, sildenafil may exert antiproliferative effects on pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells via hydrolysis of cyclic GMP.
