University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, Lincoln, NE, USA; University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Psychology Department, Lincoln, NE, USA.
University of British Columbia, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, Vancouver, British Columbia, CA, USA.
J Sex Med. 2022 May;19(5):745-760. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2022.02.007. Epub 2022 Mar 13.
Inflammation has been linked to a variety of mental and physical health outcomes that disproportionately impact women, and which can impair sexual function; thus, there is reason to expect a link between inflammation and women's sexual functioning.
To test the hypothesis that higher concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), a general biomarker of inflammation, would predict women's lower sexual desire.
As 2 independent research teams, we conducted 3 separate studies (total n = 405) that assessed salivary CRP and various measurements of sexual desire in different women populations.
Female Sexual Function Index, Sexual Desire Inventory-2, Decreased Sexual Desire Screener, and Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory.
Regardless of the way sexual desire was measured (e.g., state vs trait; general desire vs. desire functioning) and the population sampled (i.e., healthy vs. clinically diagnosed with sexual dysfunction), all the studies revealed null results.
While exploratory, the convergence of these null results across studies and researchers suggests that if there is an association between inflammation and women's sexual desire, it is likely very subtle.
STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS: Across 2 independent research teams, 3 unrelated studies, and various measurements of sexual desire, results were consistent. These points lend to the generalizability of the results. However, study designs were cross-sectional.
Future research may reveal (i) a non-linear threshold effect, such that inflammation does not begin to impact women's sexual desire until it is at a high level, (ii) inflammatory biomarkers other than CRP might be more sensitive in detecting associations between inflammation and desire, should they exist, or (iii) the mechanisms underlying sexual dysfunction may differ between sexes. Clephane K, et al. Lack of Evidence for a Relationship Between Salivary CRP and Women's Sexual Desire: An Investigation Across Clinical and Healthy Samples. J Sex Med 2022;19:745-760.
炎症与多种心理健康和身体健康结果有关，这些结果对女性的影响不成比例，并且可能会损害性功能；因此，有理由期望炎症与女性的性功能之间存在联系。
检验假设，即较高浓度的 C 反应蛋白（CRP），一种炎症的一般生物标志物，将预测女性较低的性欲。
作为 2 个独立的研究团队，我们进行了 3 项独立的研究（共 405 名女性），评估了唾液 CRP 和不同女性人群中各种性欲测量。
无论性欲的测量方式（例如，状态与特质；一般欲望与欲望功能）和抽样的人群（即健康与临床诊断为性功能障碍）如何，所有研究均显示出无效结果。
虽然是探索性的，但这些无效结果在研究和研究人员中的一致性表明，如果炎症与女性性欲之间存在关联，那么这种关联很可能非常微妙。
在 2 个独立的研究团队中，3 项不相关的研究和各种性欲测量中，结果都是一致的。这些观点增加了结果的普遍性。但是，研究设计是横断面的。
未来的研究可能会发现（i）非线性阈值效应，即炎症不会开始影响女性的性欲，除非它处于高水平，（ii）除 CRP 之外的炎症生物标志物可能更能检测到炎症与欲望之间的关联，如果存在关联的话，或者（iii）性功能障碍的潜在机制在男女之间可能不同。Clephane K 等人。唾液 CRP 与女性性欲之间缺乏关联的证据：对临床和健康样本的调查。J Sex Med 2022;19:745-760.
