# Kisspeptin and low sexual desire in men

> Sexual desire research | Omni Men's Health — Omni Men's Health explores a kisspeptin trial in men with low sexual desire, including brain processing, penile swelling and reported interest.

A study that measured the brain, the body and reported desire gives a richer account than a hormone result alone.

## The trial in men with HSDD

The trial enrolled [32 men with hypoactive sexual desire disorder and used a randomized, double-blind crossover design](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36735255/). Each of those design terms matters: the comparison involved kisspeptin-54 and placebo, with participants crossing between conditions and treatment identity concealed. The population was men with HSDD, the study's term for the low-desire disorder under investigation.

During the experiment, [kisspeptin-54 modulated activity across sexual-processing brain networks, increased penile tumescence by up to 56% over placebo and heightened self-reported sexual desire](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36735255/). No adverse events were reported in this trial. The physical response was penile swelling measured within the study.

The percentage almost writes its own headline. I am less ready to let it dominate an experiment with this range of measurements. A brain measurement, a physical response and a report of desire appear in the same experiment. Their combination gives the result its character.

## Attraction cues in another experiment

A separate neuroimaging study in men examined [responses to visual and olfactory cues of attraction](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32051344/). Olfactory means related to smell. Kisspeptin enhanced activity in olfactory and limbic regions involved in sexual behaviour; the largest effects were in men reporting lower sexual quality of life.

The inclusion of smell is a welcome complication. It pulls attraction away from the tidy picture of a brain responding to an image on a screen. The selection of cues absorbs me: attraction approached through different senses, each giving the investigators another way into the question.

The [study identifies kisspeptin signalling as a candidate target for reproductive and psychosexual disorders](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32051344/). Candidate is an appropriately open word. I would gladly read another experiment on that question; removing the word would make the account less interesting and less accurate.

![Technician and colleague in a control room overlooking an empty magnetic resonance scanner](images/attraction-room.webp)

*An editorial illustration of a neuroscience control room, with an empty scanner; no named research facility or participant is depicted.*

## Reported sexual desire

The [HSDD trial reported a change in self-reported sexual desire alongside the brain and physical findings](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36735255/). That subjective measure earns its place beside the instruments. Desire has an experiential side, and I would be dissatisfied with a story that counted only the outputs easiest to display.

I give the reported desire unusual weight here. If the physical response had changed while the men felt just as little interest, the central question would still seem unresolved to me. The reported increase in desire is what makes the combined result worth discussing. It also opens another question in my mind: how would a longer investigation handle everyday context?

There is a temptation to let the breadth of the measurements stand in for breadth of experience. I resist that temptation. The trial is interesting precisely as the trial it was. Its measured result can stand without a story about every man's libido.

## Anxiety in the wider picture

A later [randomized crossover study in 95 participants, including 63 men and 32 women, found increased LH without a significant change in state anxiety](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40036336/). It also found no significant change in cortisol, blood pressure or heart rate compared with placebo. That is a separate experiment with separate outcomes.

The anxiety finding is useful company for a page about desire. Once a research subject touches emotion, a whole collection of mood claims can gather around it. I get more from the dissection of those claims than from a flattering portrait of the molecule.

There is more on that experiment, along with appetite and bone markers, in [findings beyond reproduction](/beyond-reproduction). The [source list](/references) brings the individual records together.

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Through Omni Men's Health I pursue a wider portrait of men in published research; this editorial site is no healthcare business and offers no medical advice.