Low androgen status inhibits erectile function by inducing eNOS uncoupling in rat corpus cavernosum

作者：Wenju Xiong, Xiangjun Kong, Jun Jiang, Zhihui Yang, Rui Jiang · 发表于：Andrology · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1111/andr.12844 · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：Sexual function and dysfunction studies、Hormonal and reproductive studies、Ovarian function and disorders

Abstract Background The number of erectile dysfunction (ED) patients is increasing annually. How to improve the effectiveness of ED treatment is an important issue for the field of andrology. Objectives To investigate whether low androgen status impairs the erectile function of rats by regulated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) uncoupling. Materials and methods Thirty‐six 8‐week‐old male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into six groups as follows: 4‐week sham‐operated group (4w‐sham), 4‐week castration group (4w‐cast), 4‐week castration + testosterone (T) group (4w‐cast + T), 8‐week sham‐operated group (8w‐sham), 8‐week castration group (8w‐cast), and 8‐week castration + T group (8w‐cast + T). Three mg/kg of T was subcutaneously injected every other day in castration + T groups. The ratio of the maximum intracavernous pressure/the mean arterial pressure (ICPmax/MAP), the level of serum T, dihydrobiopterin(BH 2 ), tetrahydrobiopterin (BH 4 ), nitric oxygen(NO), 3‐nitrotyrosine(3NT), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase 1 (GTPCH1), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 2 (NOX2), and eNOS monomers/dimers in the corpus cavernosum were detected. Results The ratio of ICPmax/MAP and BH 4 /BH 2 , the level of serum T, NO, and GTPCH1 decreased significantly in castration groups compared with sham‐operated groups and castration + T groups ( P < .05) and decreased significantly in 8w‐cast group compared with 4w‐cast...