New Scientist2009/03/08

THE stink of flatulence and rotten eggs could provide a surprising lift for men. Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) causes erections in rats and may one day provide an alternative to Viagra for men.

The penis is packed with spongy tissue that produces an erection when it fills with blood. Nitric oxide (NO) helps relax the walls of arteries that supply the penis, allowing extra blood to flow in. Viagra works by blocking an enzyme that destroys NO.

H2S has recently been shown to relax the walls of major blood vessels too. Now Giuseppe Cirino at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy and his colleagues have found enzymes that produce H2S in human penile tissue. Injecting this tissue with H2S dilated the blood vessels, while injecting it into the penises of live rats produced erections (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0807974105).

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