REVIEW article
Front. Reprod. Health
Sec. Andrology
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frph.2025.1594664
Vitamin D in Male Sexual Functions: Unwrapping the Sunshine Hormone Activities in Erectile Function and Beyond
Provisionally accepted
Adeyemi Odetayo1*
Grace Edet Bassey2Grace Ayobami Fajemidagba3Kazeem Bidemi Okesina4Moses Agbomhere Hamed5- 1Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun, Ila Orangun, Nigeria
- 2University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria
- 3Physiology department, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun, Nigeria
- 4University of Rwanda, Kigali, Kigali City, Rwanda
- 5Afe Babalola University, Nigeria, Nigeria
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Vitamin D, sometimes referred to as the "sunshine vitamin," is well-known for its role in maintaining bone health processes that are highly dependent on calcium regulation.However, there is an emerging wealth of evidence that this fat-soluble vitamin has an important role in male sexual health regarding erectile function, production of testosterone, and overall fertility. Due to the increased vitamin D deficiency rates in most populations, the implications of its deficiency on male sexual functions have gained great interest. Materials and methods: This review, therefore, sums up recent publications that detail the association of vitamin D with male sexual functions regarding its potential roles in erectile function regulation, testosterone levels, and semen characteristics. Results: Vitamin D contributed positively to sexual and erectile functions. These were mediated via hormone-dependent mechanisms through its inhibitory role on prolactin and steroidogenic activities. It also improves endothelial functions by stimulating the secretion and release of nitric oxide, which is important for erection. Furthermore, it acts by mediating the activities of monoamine neurotransmitters, which are responsible for the motor activities involved in sexual function.Vitamin D acts via multiple mechanisms to enhance sexual and erectile functions.
Keywords: antioxidant, Erectile Dysfunction, Endothelial Function, Penile Erection, Sexual dysfunction, Vitamin D
Received: 18 Mar 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Odetayo, Bassey, Fajemidagba, Bidemi Okesina and Agbomhere Hamed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Adeyemi Odetayo, Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun, Ila Orangun, Nigeria
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.