Refractory period (sex) for treating sexual dysfunction. Sildenafil, used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction, was found in one scientific study to have caused "a decreased postejaculatory erectile refractory time (3.2 ± 0.7 vs. 6.4 ± 0.7 minutes)" in men diagnosed with premature ejaculation. It is additionally proposed that the gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH), which is considered to inhibit the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and sexual functions causes refractoriness of the post-ejaculatory refractory period. This hypothesis also supports the increase of oxytocin and prolactin after orgasm in accordance with the previous studies. One alternative theory explains the male refractory period in terms of a peripheral
Refractory period (physiology) channels in closing. Voltage-gated sodium channels have two gating mechanisms, the activation mechanism that opens the channel with depolarization and the inactivation mechanism that closes the channel with repolarization. While the channel is in the inactive state, it will not open in response to depolarization. The period when the majority of sodium channels remain in the inactive state is the absolute refractory period. After this period, there are enough voltage-activated sodium channels in the closed (active) state to respond to depolarization. However, voltage-gated potassium channels that opened in response to repolarization do not close as quickly as voltage-gated sodium channels;