05. The SPSS 17.0 programme was used for the data analyses (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).2.4. EthicsThe study was approved by the Ethics Committee of San Cecilio University Hospital, and written informed consent was obtained the following site from all patients and controls according to the Helsinki Declaration.3. ResultsThe mean age of patients with ED was 55.8 �� 7.7 years versus 52.5 �� 4.8 years in the control group (P = 0.06). The mean BMI in the patient group was 29.8 �� 4.4kg/m2 versus 26.9 �� 4.6kg/m2 in the control group (P = 0.01). The IIEF score in patients was 9.7 �� 7.2 versus 29.7 �� 0.5 in the controls (P = 0.0001). No significant differences were found between groups in terms of alcohol consumption (48.6% versus 64.3% for patients and controls, resp., P = 0.30) or smoking (29.7% versus 42.

8% for patients and controls, resp., P = 0.25). However, 62.6% of patients admitted that they did not do any exercise versus 28.5% of controls (P = 0.006). A total of 29.7% of the patients with ED were previously diagnosed with arterial hypertension versus 25% in the control group (P = 0.77), and 32.4% of the patients presented with diabetes mellitus versus 10.7% of the controls (P = 0.031). 3.1. Metabolic SyndromeATP-III criteria for MS were met by 64.9% of the patients with ED versus 9.5% of the controls (P < 0.0001, OR = 17.53, 95% CI: 3.52�C87.37). Significant differences in MS parameters between ED patients and controls are listed in Table 1. In the group with ED, the abdominal circumference was 106.6 �� 11.2cm versus 94.2 �� 11.3cm in the control group (P < 0.0001).

Mean systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressure was 151 �� 22mmHg and 88 �� 10mmHg, respectively, in the patients and 128 �� 13mmHg and 78 �� 7mmHg in the controls (P < 0.0001). Median glucose levels were 108mg/dL in the group with ED versus 93mg/dL in controls (P = 0.005), and median glycated haemoglobin was 5.8% versus 5.6% (P = 0.02) for patients and controls, respectively. The MS criteria most frequently recorded in patients with ED were abdominal obesity and systolic and diastolic hypertension. A negative significant correlation between IIEF score and metabolic syndrome parameters was found: systolic BP (r = ?0.54, P = 0.0001), diastolic BP (r = ?0.43, P = 0.0001), abdominal perimeter (r = ?0.43, P = 0.0001), and glucose levels (Spearman's coefficient = ?0.45, P = 0.0001). Multivariate studies with binary logistic regression showed a strong association between patients Batimastat with ED and MS even after additional adjustment for age, BMI, IIEF, tobacco use, sedentarism, and alcohol consumption (OR = 20.05, 95% CI: 1.24�C32.82, P < 0.034, Table 2).