Viagra, the drug famous for its treatment of male erectile dysfunction, may no longer just be useful for gentlemen who have lost that loving feeling. A research study beginning this week at Sacramento State will look at the effects of the drug, known technically as sildenafil citrate, on female athletes and their exercise performance.

Associate kinesiology professor and exercise physiologist, Roberto Quintana, proposed the topic after reading new research which demonstrated that mountain climbers experienced “dramatically improved exercise ability at 19,000 feet after being given Viagra.”

“We know that when we go to altitude, we usually get a drop-off in performance because the ability of our bodies to consume oxygen is decreased,” he said, adding that oxygen is an essential ingredient to fuel muscular function.

The drug works by improving the ability of the lungs to intake oxygen, Quintana said.

“Viagra allows you to basically process more oxygen in the body,” he added. “But all the research has been done in males, which showed that the drug did restore decreases in exercise performance at altitude. We want to take a closer look at how females respond to Viagra at altitude.”

If the study, which predicts that exercise performance will increase upon ingesting the Viagra pill, is proven true, Sac State athletes could reap the benefits, Quintana said.

“Sac State is one of only two schools in our conference at sea level,” he said. “So our athletes are at a real disadvantage competing anywhere besides Portland and here because those other venues are at between 4000 and 7000 feet above sea level.”

Research has shown a decline of anywhere between nine and 20 percent in exercise capacity at higher altitudes, Quintana said, which impacts Sac State athletes on the road.

“Our students are not used to that because they’re coming from sea level and going to altitude, whereas the athletes from altitude have become acclimatized,” he said. “Our athletes are really at a disadvantage because the other athletes have undergone physiological changes to adapt to that altitude.”

Women’s basketball coach Dan Muscatell said he is always concerned about competing at high altitude and how players can improve their performance at these destinations. Muscatell takes his team to practice in South Lake Tahoe once every season to get acclimated to the altitude difference and encourages doubling the intake of fluids when affected. Still, Muscatell said there is a marked difference in the ability to breathe when playing at higher altitudes.

“I will be very interested in hearing the results of the study and finding out if it enhances performance and is within the scope of NCAA rules,” Muscatell said.

Quintana estimated the study will take one or two months to do the data collection and analysis. Eight to 16 healthy female subjects between 18 and 40 years of age will visit the laboratory three times, he said, once for a base sea level exercise test, once with a placebo at altitude and once with Viagra at altitude. Subjects, who will include Sac State students and community members, will ride a bicycle each visit. To ensure reliable results, they won’t know which pill they are taking.

“If someone knows they’re getting something that might benefit them, they might go a little bit longer, so we’ll blind it,” Quintana said. “They’ll get two little blue pills; they just won’t know which one’s which.”

Tests will be performed in the lab’s altitude chamber, and air and sea levels will be altered with pumps to mimic 14,000 feet, Quintana said. “The chamber, instead of changing the pressure, changes the air content,” he added.

The study has been approved by the University Human Subjects Committee, said Quintana and UHSC Compliance Coordinator Adrienne Thompson. The committee must approve all research involving humans on campus, Quintana said.

“You have to make sure that you follow some ethical guidelines,” he said. “You can’t do harm to the students or do things that would be detrimental to the subjects.”

Thompson reiterated the committee’s responsibility, which, she said, includes 11 members.

“Everyone looks at the human subject protocols and application,” Thompson added.

The study is also acting as a thesis project for Masters in Exercise Physiology student Irene Cisneros. After reading through current literature, Cisneros said she is excited to get the project underway. What is most interesting, she added, is that the study’s results may affect the ability of people to do leisurely activities at altitude.

“People that go up to higher altitudes for just one day to do things like mountain biking or skiing are affected more by symptoms,” Cisneros said, which can include nausea, flushed skin, lightheadedness and a decrease in exercise performance.

Although there are drugs that can improve the side effects of altitude sickness, there is no drug presently known that helps people compete or exercise at altitude, Quintana said. He added that Viagra might also help mountain climbers who are having difficulty exercising at altitude.

“That would probably be a big benefit, because there are a lot of deaths due to people not being able to climb a mountain fast enough or get down a mountain fast enough when a storm approaches,” he said.

While Quintana will oversee the study, Cisneros will be responsible for assisting with the tests, completing the statistical analysis and writing the report. Cardiologist Dr. Larry Wolfe of Sutter Medical Center will be in charge of prescribing the drug for participants.

Randy Dedini, assistant coach of women’s soccer, is interested in learning about the study’s results as well as any possible risks.

“I’d definitely be interested in knowing more,” Dedini said. “And if there was an advantage found, we might look into it when we travel to Colorado or elsewhere.” But Dedini cautioned that coaches would have to consider other factors besides performance enhancement.

“We’d look at issues like safety, any harm to someone competing and if it was considered a banned substance,” he said.

Quintana said that, like most drugs, Viagra does pose some risks.

“It can cause some problems for people with heart conditions or women who are pregnant,” he said. “It can also cause some side effects, but they are usually relatively mild, like tingling in hands, blue-tinged vision or hypotension (low blood pressure).”

But the study’s subjects won’t have to worry about any lower body surprises.

“The unique thing about Viagra is that it’s mostly marketed for men but there is some research that suggests that the way it enhances your ability to consume oxygen works the same way in women,” Quintana said. “In females, it doesn’t have an effect on the sexual organs like males do, because they just don’t have the same receptors down there.”

The United States Anti-Doping Agency, which regulates prohibited substances in competition, does not currently ban Viagra. Calls to the USADA were not returned.

But despite not being banned, Quintana said the drug’s use in competition could possibly spark ethical concerns since research indicates it might enhance performance.

“That increase is what we’re trying to figure out, at least in women,” he said. “Viagra hasn’t been banned because the effects of it aren’t yet fully known. This study will look at what those effects are.”

Megan Chuchmach can be reached at [email protected]