C-reactive protein (CRP), as a marker of inflammation, may be closely related to erectile dysfunction (ED), however, there is no meta-analysis exists for it.
We aimed to verify the relationship between CRP and erectile dysfunction and to explore the changes of CRP levels in ED patients after first-line treatment.
We searched databases including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and MEDLINE to identify studies up to January 1, 2022. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the included studies by STATA software and calculated standardized mean differences (SMDs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals.
A total of 12 studies were included and the analysis showed that CRP levels were higher significantly in patients with erectile dysfunction than the healthy controls (P < 0.001) and decreased by a mean of 0.38 mg/L after first-line PDE5i drug treatment (P = 0.001).
This novel meta-analysis suggests that CRP is statistically significantly associated with erectile dysfunction and may be a predictor or risk factor for the assessment of ED. However, further original studies with large sample sizes are needed to validate this. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Andrology. 2022 Jun 17 [Epub ahead of print]
Guodong Liu, Yuyang Zhang, Wei Zhang, Xu Wu, Hui Jiang, Houbao Huang, Xiansheng Zhang
Department of Urology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Anhui province, China., The department of Urology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China., Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Anhui province, China.