Mondia whitei: Popular African Plant For Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED) also known as impotence; is a repeated inability to achieve or maintain an erection fair enough for satisfactory sexual intercourse. This is a common condition in older men between 40 and 70years. This can be caused by physical factors such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and hormonal problems, and psychological factors (wespes et al 2004; Britreu Society for sexual medicine 2007; national health service clinical knowledge summaries 2018)

Effective therapy has been available for some time and currently includes many orthodox pharmaceuticals like sildenafil (viagra) urethral suppositories and a variety of surgical treatment

However, among these methods, medicinal plants have been used for centuries as a viable alternative with anecdotal evidence of their treatment as substances that increase libido, potency, enhance the sensory experience during coitus. Some of these include Ambra grisea, Panax ginseng, and Mondia whitei (Ernst-Russel et al 1999 Nantia et al 2009)

Mondia whitei from the Apocynaceae family has been used by many traditional medicine practitioners in Ghana for the management of erectile dysfunction.

It is also known to increase libido and also for the management of low sperm count. Some scientific researches have shown anecdotal evidence of Mondia white effectiveness as aphrodisiacs. Motility parameter in aqueous administration to human spermatozoan in vitro showed significantly enhanced total motility as well as progressive motility in a time-dependent manner.

these findings support the use of Mondia whitei especially in men affected with asthenozoospermia (lampiao, 2007, watcho et al 2007) but its mode of action is not clear

However, a preliminary study of ethanolic extract of Mondia whitei in vivo increase levels of cGMP (Ofosuhene 2005), the pathway that corpora cavernosal smooth muscles are relaxed for penile erection as in the case of sildenafil (viagra). Further studies on the modulation of penile rection in rabbits by Mondia whitei with the view to determine its mode of action where the in vivo effects of the ethanolic crude extract, chloroform and petroleum ether fraction in vitro on cavernosal tissue suggests that Mondia whitei may influence erectile function via activation of NOS with compounding increase in tissue No and cGMP levels and that contain chemicals constituents present in ht chloroform fraction may be responsible for biological activity

Enough scientific evidence has supported the anecdotal use of Mondia whitei as an aphrodisiac and it may be working synergistically by activating NOS that increase levels of cGMP that can cause cross-activation for the generation of cAMP as well as hyperpolarisation

Since in vitro studies prove that Mondia whitei can cause blockade of voltage-operated ca2+ channels, it is likely to directly activate cGK, which can be an interesting target for pharmacological intervention in the management of erectile dysfunction (ED).

References

Andersson, K.E., 2001. Pharmacology of penile erection. Pharmacol. Rev., 53: 417-450.
PubMed  |  

2:  Andersson, K.E. and G. Wagner, 1995. Physiology of penile erection. Physiol. Rev., 75: 191-236.
PubMed  |  

3:  Ballard, S.A., L.A. Turner and A.M. Naylor, 1996. Sildenafil, a potent selective inhibitor of type 5 phosphodiesterase enhances nitric oxide-dependent relaxation of rabbit corpus cavernosum (Abstr). Br. J. Pharmacol., 118: 153-153.

4:  Ballard, S.A., C.J. Gingell, K. Tang, L.A. Turner, M.E. Price and A.M. Naylor, 1998. Effects of sildenafil on the relaxation of human corpus cavernosum tissue in vitro and on the activities of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase isozymes. J. Urol., 159: 2164-2171.
Direct Link  |  

5:  Bivalacqua, T.J., H.C. Champion, M. Rajasekaran, S.C. Sikka, P.J. Kadowitz, P.C. Doherty and W.J. Hellstrom, 1999. Potentiation of erectile response and cAMP accumulation by combination of prostaglandin E1 and rolipram, a selective inhibitor of the type 4 phosphodiesterase (PDE 4). J. Urol., 162: 1848-1855.
PubMed  |  

6:  Burnett, A.L., 1997. Nitric oxide in the penis: Physiology and pathology. J. Urol., 157: 320-324.
CrossRef  |  PubMed  |  

7:  British Society for Sexual Medicine, 2007. Guidelines on the management of erectile dysfunction. http://www.bssm.org.uk/downloads/BSSM_ED_Management_Guidelines_2007.pdf.

8:  Cahn, D., A. Melman, M. Valcic and G.J. Chris, 1996. Forskolin: A promising new adjunct to intracavernous pharmacotherapy. J. Urol., 155: 1789-1794.
PubMed  |  

9:  Ernst-Russel, M., C.L.L. Chai, A.M. Hurne, P. War-Ing, D.C.R. Hockless and J.A. Elix, 1999. Structure revision and cytotoxic activity of the scabrosinesters, epidothiopiperazinediones from the lichen xanthoparmelia scabrosa. Aust. J. Chem., 52: 279-283.
CrossRef  |  Direct Link  |  

10:  Wespes, E., E. Amar and D. Hatzichristou, 2004. Guidelines on erectile dysfunction. http://www.urotoday.com/prod/pdf/eau/22891_Erectile_Dysfunction.pdf.

11:  Feldman, H.A., I. Goldstein, D.G. Hatzichristou, R.J. Krane and J.B. McKinlay, 1994. Impotence and its medical and psychological correlates: Results of Massachusetts male aging study. J. Urol., 151: 54-61.
PubMed  |  Direct Link  |  

12:  Hedlund, P., P. Alm, P. Ekstrom, J. Fahrenkrug and J. Hannibal et al., 1995. Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide, helospectin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in human corpus cavernosum. Br. J. Pharmacol., 116: 2258-2266.
PubMed  |  Direct Link  |  

13:  Hedlund, P., A. Aszodi, A. Pfeifer, P. Alm and F. Hofmann et al., 2000. Erectile dysfunction in cyclic GMP-dependent kinase I-deficient mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 97: 2349-2354.
Direct Link  |  

14:  Karaki, H., H. Ozaki, M. Hori, M. Mitsui-Saito and K.I. Amano et al., 1997. Calcium movements, distribution and functions in smooth muscle. Pharmacol. Rev., 49: 157-230.
Direct Link  |  

15:  Kaufman, J.M., D.G. Hatzichristou, J.P. Mulhall, W.P. Fitch and I. Goldstein, 1994. Impotence and chronic renal failure. A study of the hemodynamic pathophysiology. J. Urol., 151: 612-618.
PubMed  |  Direct Link  |  

16:  Kaiser, F.E.K. and S.G. Korenman, 1988. Impotence in diabetic men. Am. J. Med., 85: 147-152.
PubMed  |  Direct Link  |  

17:  Klotz, T., W. Bloch, J. Zimmermann, P. Ruth, U. Engelmann and K. Addicks, 2000. Soluble guanylate cyclase and cGMP-dependent protein kinase I expression in the human corpus cavernosum. Int. J. Impotance Res., 12: 157-164.
Direct Link  |  

18:  Kuthe, A., H. Magert, S. Ucker, W.G. Forssmann, C.G. Stief and U. Jonas, 2000. Gene expression of the phosphodiesterases 3A and 5A in human corpus cavernosum penis. Eur. J. Urol., 38: 108-114.
PubMed  |  

19:  Kuthe, A., A. Wiedenroth, H.J. Magert, S. Uckert, W.G. Forssmann, C.G. Stief and U. Jonas, 2001. Expression of different phosphodiesterase genes in human cavernous smooth muscle. J. Urol., 165: 280-283.
PubMed  |  

20:  Lampiao, F., D. Krom and S.S. du Plessis, 2007. The in vitro effects of Mondia whitei on human sperm motility parameters. Phyther. Res., 22: 1272-1273.
CrossRef  |  Direct Link  |  

21:  Lee, S.W., H.Z. Wang and G.J. Christ, 1999. Characterization of ATP-sensitive potassium channels in human corporal smooth muscle cells. Int. J. Importance Res., 11: 179-188.
Direct Link  |  

22:  Lilius, H.G., E. J. Valtonen and J. Wikstrom, 1976. Sexual problems in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. J. Chronic Dis., 29: 643-647.
CrossRef  |  

23:  Lin, J.S., Y.M. Lin, Y.C. Jou and J.T. Cheng, 1995. Role of cyclic adenosine monophosphate in prostaglandin E1-induced penile erection in rabbits. Eur. Urol., 28: 259-265.
PubMed  |  Direct Link  |  

24:  Melman, A., G. Gordon and T. Warner, 1985. Evaluation of sexual dysfunction in men with severe chronic alcoholism. J. Urol., 133: 187A-187A.

25:  Mumarriz, R., R.Y. Quingwei and I. Goldstein, 1995. Blunt trauma: The pathophysiology of hemodynamic injury leading to erectile dysfunction. J. Urol., 153: 1831-1840.
Direct Link  |  

26:  Miller, M.A., R.J. Morgan, C.S. Thompson, D.P. Mikhailidis and J.Y. Jeremy, 1995. Effects of papaverine and vasointestinal polypeptide on penile and vascular cAMP and cGMP in control and diabetic animals: An in vitro study. Int. J. Importance Res., 7: 91-100.
PubMed  |  Direct Link  | 

27: Oketch-Rabah, H. A. (2012). Mondia whitei, a medicinal plant from Africa with aphrodisiac and antidepressant properties: a review. Journal of dietary supplements, 9(4), 272-284.

28: Watcho, P., Zelefack, F., Nguelefack, T. B., Ngouela, S., Telefo, P. B., Kamtchouing, P., … & Kamanyi, A. (2007). Effects of the aqueous and hexane extracts of Mondia whitei on the sexual behaviour and some fertility parameters of sexually inexperienced male rats. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 4(1), 37-46.

29: