Assessment of the effects of analgesic concentrations of nitrous oxide on human sexual response.

Nitrous oxide, an analgesic gas, has long been thought to have euphoric and sexual effects, but these have only recently been studied scientifically. In a small experiment with 7 men and 6 women, nitrous oxide generally reduced objective measures of sexual arousal from erotic videos. However, 7 of the 13 participants reported subjectively that the gas made them more aroused, contradicting the objective measurements. The authors suggest this discrepancy may stem from nitrous oxide's effects on the endogenous opioid system, possibly acting in opposing directions centrally and peripherally, and propose the gas as a tool for investigating sexual function.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The euphorogenic and sexual effects of analgesic nitrous oxide have been long reported anecdotally; however, these effects have only recently been investigated scientifically. The effects of oxygen and analgesic nitrous oxide on sexual arousal provoked by visual erotic stimulation in male (n = 7) and female (n = 6) subjects, using both subjective and objective measures were assessed. Nitrous oxide had a depressant effect on objective measures of arousal in most subjects. It was also found that 7 of the 13 subjects were incongruent in that their subjective assessment of the gas which produced the most arousal differed from the one that caused most arousal as measured objectively. These findings are discussed in terms of the effect of nitrous oxide on the endogenous opioid system and the suggestion is made that the gas may prove useful as an investigatory tool of sexual function. This applies particularly in terms of the findings of this study that nitrous oxide, as with other opioids, may not only have central but also peripheral opioid effects, which may operate in opposing directions.