Kisspeptin shows promise in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder

The use of kisspeptin appears to restore sexual and facial attraction brain processing in premenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), without an accompanying increase in the risk of adverse effects, a study has found.

In the two-way crossover study with a month-long washout, 40 premenopausal women with HSDD were randomized to receive a 75-minute intravenous infusion of kisspeptin-54 (1 nmol/kg/h) vs equivalent-rate placebo infusion, with each participant acting as their own control.

Researchers performed functional neuroimaging, psychometric, and hormonal studies to examine the effects of kisspeptin administration on brain processing, in response to erotic stimuli (erotic videos) and facial attraction (face images of varying attractiveness).

A total of 32 women (mean age 29.2 years) completed both kisspeptin and placebo interventions. Kisspeptin administration was associated with modulations in sexual and facial attraction brain processing (deactivation of the left inferior frontal gyrus: p=0.01; activation of the right postcentral and supramarginal gyrus: p<0.001; deactivation of the right temporoparietal junction: p=0.02).

Additionally, there were positive correlations observed between kisspeptin-enhanced hippocampal activity in response to erotic videos and baseline distress relating to sexual function (p=0.007) and between kisspeptin-enhancement of posterior cingulate cortex activity in response to attractive male faces and reduced sexual aversion (p=0.005).

Kisspeptin was well-tolerated. There were no adverse effects documented in any of the participants.