[Female partners confronted with erectile dysfunction. A series of 137 patients]. / La femme face à la dysfonction érectile de son partenaire. À propos de 137 patients.

AIM: To assess the behavior of female partners of patients consulting for erectile dysfunction (ED) and the impact of ED on their sex life. MATERIAL: One hundred and thirty seven men (mean age 57.4 ears), consulting for the first time because of ED and having a stable relationship with a single woman for more than six months, completed various questionnaires: IIEF, grounds for the possible absence of their partner during the consultation, attitude of the latter confronted with ED. The partners (mean age 54 years) have been invited to complete a questionnaire ISL (Index of Sexual Life) regarding their sexual life during the four last weeks. Seventy-nine (58%) have responded. RESULTS: Most often, the ED was severe (49%) and has evolved for more than one year (64%). The relationship has lasted for more than ten years for 77% of couples. Moreover, 43% of men declared that their partner had encouraged them to consult but 76% consulted alone the first time. According to the patients, the most frequent grounds for absence of their partner were: "she was occupied" (58%), "we did not think of it" (24%), "we did not know that it was possible" (15%). According to the patients, confronted with ED their partner was disappointed (29%), vexed (27%), frustrated (17%), accepting (15%) but the most often understanding (77%). The ISL scores were impaired in the different categories (sexual drive, sexual life satisfaction, general life satisfaction). According to ISL, 41% of women indicated that sexual intercourse was "a few times, almost never" or never satisfactory for them. Moreover, 45% found sexual intercourse "fairly enjoyable, enjoyable, or very enjoyable" but 41% did not feel an orgasm during vaginal penetration. Additionally, 44% remained "moderately or very satisfied" with their sexual relationship and 54% with their overall sex life. CONCLUSION: Few women attended the first consultation of ED because, according to the patients, usually they were not free. According to the patients, confronted with ED their partner was sometimes vexed, disappointed, frustrated but more often remained understanding. The analysis of the questionnaires ISL completed by the female partners shown that ED affected their sexuality but about half of them remained satisfied with their sexual relationship and overall sex life.

A new human MR splice variant is a ligand-independent transactivator modulating corticosteroid action.

Aldosterone effects are mediated by the MR, which possesses the same affinity for mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids. In addition to the existence of mechanisms regulating intracellular hormone availability, we searched for human MR splice variants involved in tissue-specific corticosteroid function. We have identified a new human MR isoform, hMRDelta5,6, resulting from an alternative splicing event skipping exons 5 and 6 of the human MR gene. hMRDelta5,6 mRNAs are expressed in several human tissues at different levels compared with wild-type human MR, as shown by real time PCR. Introduction of a premature stop codon results in a 75-kDa protein lacking the entire hinge region and ligand binding domain. Interestingly, hMRDelta5,6 is still capable of binding to DNA and acts as a ligand-independent transactivator, with maximal transcriptional induction corresponding to approximately 30-40% of aldosterone-activated wild-type human MR. Coexpression of hMRDelta5,6 with human MR or human GR increases their transactivation potential at high doses of hormone. Finally, hMRDelta5,6 is able to recruit the coactivators, steroid receptor coactivator 1, receptor interacting protein 140, and transcription intermediary factor 1alpha, which enhance its transcriptional activity. Ligand-independent transactivation and enhancement of both wild-type MR and GR activities by hMRDelta5,6 suggests that this new variant might play a role in modulating corticosteroid effects in target tissues.