It has been prescribed as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, although its reported clinical benefits were modest and it has largely been superseded by the PDE5 inhibitor class of drugs.
Substances that have purported to be extracts from the yohimbe tree have been marketed as dietary supplements for various purposes, but they contain highly variable amounts of yohimbine, if any; no published scientific evidence supports their efficacy.
In 1900, it attracted scientific interest in Germany, where an initial report claimed that yohimbe exerted a strong aphrodisiacal effect in animals and humans.
[9] According to a 2010 encyclopedia article by Joseph M. Betz[11] of the National Institutes of Health: Probably as a result of this trend, no reports of human studies on the effects of crude yohimbe bark or its extracts on sexual performance can be found in the [scientific] literature... Any discussion of the use of the bark for sexual enhancement thus begins and ends with folklore.
[9] Subsequent work on yohimbine, while confirming that it behaves as an aphrodisiac in animals, including rats, dogs and golden hamsters,[9] has failed to do so in humans.
Blockage of these brain adrenoreceptors appears to reverse a central negative feedback mechanism that regulates penile erection and maintains detumescence... [But] the compound does not increase sexual desire and thoughts in human clinical trials.
[9]Yohimbine has been used to treat female sexual dysfunction, but there are few reported clinical trials and these do not show it to be better than placebo.
[12] On treatment for male erectile dysfunction (ED), a review article by Tam et al. (2001) concluded: Although well-tolerated and safe, even when greatly exceeding the likely therapeutic range, it is obvious that the efficacy of [yohimbine] as monotherapy in the general ED population is likely to be modest.
[13]Again according to Betz (2010), The modern consensus appears to be that the pure compound yohimbine is effective for treating certain mild types of erectile dysfunction in some men, but does not act as an aphrodisiac".
[8] Cohen et al. found that samples of brands sold in American brick-and-mortar stores contained highly variable amounts of yohimbine, and sometimes none at all.
[20] According to yet another source, the yohimbe sold in markets in West Africa, where the tree grows, is frequently adulterated with other species of the genus Pausinystalia; these contain little yohimbine.
The FDA has asserted that some yohimbine-containing products are "drugs" because they are so promoted as to show "they are intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease": 21 U.S.C.
[39] Yohimbine has been studied as a way to improve the effects of exposure therapy in people with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
[45][46][47] It is illegal in the United States to market an over the counter product containing yohimbine as a treatment for erectile dysfunction without getting FDA approval to do so.
Blockade of pre-synaptic α2 receptors facilitates the release of several neurotransmitters in the central and peripheral nervous system — thus in the corpus cavernosum — such as nitric oxide and norepinephrine.
[53] It is found in large areas of central South America, particularly the Gran Chaco, where it is often the dominant species in the canopy.
[56] While in recent times cattle ranching and soya cultivation have led to considerable habitat loss,[57] and while there is still illegal logging, no shortage of the bark is reported.
[73] However, WADA did not yet list Yohimbine (which can come into a body via an energy drink,[74] also in a form of pre-workout supplement or fat burner[75]) as a prohibited substance, nor did it confirm that its use can increase the endogenous level of anabolic steroids, in particular of 19-norandrostenedione and testosterone.