Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Aug 09, 2026 1 hour, 1 minute ago
A new Thai laboratory and animal study has found that an extract made from Mucuna pruriens var. pruriens, commonly known as velvet bean, can influence several biological processes involved in achieving an erection. Importantly, researchers found that the effects appeared to involve blood-vessel signaling rather than increased testosterone.
Thai researchers found velvet bean seed extract influenced key blood-vessel pathways associated with erectile function
Researchers Test a Traditional Male Health Herb
Mucuna pruriens has a long history of traditional use for supporting male sexual health. Researchers prepared an ethanolic seed extract, called MPSE, and standardized it for L-DOPA content before testing it in human vascular cells and male rats.
The researchers were from the Clinical Research Center for Food and Herbal Product Trials and Development, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University; Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University; Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University; Laboratory Animal Center, Office of Advanced Science and Technology, Thammasat University; McCormick Faculty of Nursing, Payap University; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University; and Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, The Botanical Garden Organization, Thailand.
Key Erection Pathway Was Activated
One of the strongest findings involved the nitric oxide-cGMP-PDE5 pathway, an important biological system controlling blood-vessel relaxation during erections.
MPSE at 50, 100 and 200 micrograms per milliliter significantly increased expression of eNOS, an enzyme responsible for producing nitric oxide. At 200 micrograms per milliliter, the extract significantly increased nitric oxide production compared with untreated cells.
The highest concentration also significantly raised cGMP inside vascular smooth-muscle cells. This molecule helps smooth muscle relax, allowing increased blood flow. MPSE additionally inhibited PDE5A1, the enzyme responsible for breaking down cGMP, at concentrations of 20 and 200 micrograms per milliliter.
These combined actions are particularly interesting because established erectile dysfunction drugs such as sildenafil also target PDE5. However, the findings do not mean the herbal extract has been proven equivalent to sildenafil in humans.
Sexual Activity Increased Without Higher Testosterone
This
Thailand Medical News report also notes another important finding that came from male rats receiving 50, 100 or 200 milligrams of MPSE per kilogram of body weight daily for 15 days.
Mounting frequency increased relative to baseline. By Day 15, mounting remained significantly above baseline at all three MPSE doses, while researchers found no significant increase in serum testosterone.
Tests also indicated that the behavioral effect was unlikely to simply result from reduced anxiety or increased general physical activity. MPSE produced no significant overall changes
in anxiety-like behavior and no sustained alteration in locomotor activity.
Blood Pressure Findings Add Interest
Researchers also examined cardiovascular effects because erectile dysfunction commonly occurs alongside hypertension. MPSE did not significantly change mean arterial pressure or heart rate in either normal rats or rats with experimentally induced hypertension.
This finding is encouraging, but it should not be interpreted as proof of cardiovascular safety in people. The hypertension model was acute, and researchers did not test the extract together with antihypertensive medicines.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that standardized velvet bean seed extract can simultaneously strengthen nitric oxide production, increase cGMP signaling and inhibit PDE5 while improving sexual behavior in rats without increasing testosterone. However, actual erectile function was not directly measured, and human clinical trials are essential before MPSE can be considered an established treatment for erectile dysfunction.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Biology.
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/15/16/1348
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/reproductive-medicine 
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