Hormone kisspeptin could be ‘life-changing’ treatment for low libido

A hormone called kisspeptin could increase libido in people whose lives had been made miserable by low sexual appetite.

In both men and women, regions of the brain that play a part in sexual attraction became more active after kisspeptin was administered. Picture: Alamy/The Times

A potentially “life-changing” drug could be used to raise low sex drive in men and women, a trial has suggested.

Researchers found that giving kisspeptin, a hormone that occurs naturally in the body, via an intravenous drip increased libido in people whose lives had been made miserable by low sexual appetite.

The participants had been diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, where a person finds having a low sex drive distressing. It is estimated to affect one in 10 men and women. Researchers believe the hormone could be taken as a nasal spray to increase sexual desire for a couple of hours.

One participant, Peter, 44, said the disorder had damaged his relationships.

“I had tried other performance-supporting medication, like Viagra,” he said. “However, this proved ineffective as the issue was simply one of low desire.

“It was highly embarrassing and not something I felt able to talk to my previous partners about. I feared they would confuse it with lack of attraction.”

After being given kisspeptin in June 2021, Peter noticed a difference.

“The week I had the kisspeptin infusion we conceived our son, who was born in March 2022.

I had the best possible outcome as a result of the trial,” he said.

The study involved 32 women and 32 men who were given kisspeptin during one visit to a laboratory and a placebo during another visit. They did not know which they had been given. MRI scans were used to monitor their brain activity and they completed questionnaires to assess their mood.

In both the men and women, regions of the brain that play a part in sexual attraction became more active after kisspeptin was administered through a drip, which took about 75 minutes.

Dr Alexander Comninos, of Imperial College London, co-senior author of the study, said the disorder often appeared to be linked to people worrying about their sexual performance. “What was pleasing is that we saw, in both the female and the male study, deactivations in [brain] areas that are related to this excess self-monitoring and introspection, and we saw activations in sexual arousal centres of the brain,” he said.

Women reported feeling “more sexy” after being given kisspeptin compared with the placebo. In the men, the hormone strengthened erections by up to 56 per cent compared with the placebo when they watched an erotic video. They later reported more “happiness about sex”. No adverse side effects were reported.

There are two other drugs that can be prescribed to boost libido in women, but side effects include dizziness and nausea. For men there are currently no licensed treatments.

“There is a real unmet need to find new, safer and more effective therapies for this distressing condition, for both women and men seeking treatment,” Comninos said. “We provide the first evidence that kisspeptin is a potentially safe and effective therapy.

“We now plan to take things forward to hopefully realise the potential of kisspeptin therapeutics in psychosexual disorders – sexual problems which are psychological in origin, such as unexplained low libido.”

The Times