The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on cavernous nerve (CN) regeneration and functional status in a nerve-crush rat model. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into three equal groups: eight had a sham operation, eight underwent bilateral nerve crushing with no further intervention and eight underwent bilateral nerve crushing with an immediate application of PRP on the site of injury. Erectile function was assessed by CN electrostimulation at 3 months and nerve regeneration was assessed by toluidine blue staining of CN and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase staining of penile tissue. Three months after surgery, in the group that underwent bilateral nerve crushing with no further intervention, the functional evaluation showed a lower mean maximal intracavernous pressure (ICP) and maximal ICP per mean arterial pressure (MAP) with CN stimulation than those in the sham group. In the group with an immediate application of PRP, the mean maximal ICP and maximal ICP/MAP were significantly higher than those in the injured control group. Histologically, the group with the application of PRP had more myelinated axons of CNs and more NADPH-diaphorase-positive nerve fibres than the injured control group but fewer than the sham group. These results show that the application of PRP to the site of CN-crush injury facilitates nerve regeneration and recovery of erectile function. Our research indicates that clinical application of PRP has potential repairing effect on CN and peripheral nerves.
This study investigates the role of oxidative stress in surgical cavernous nerve (CN) injury in a rat model. Eighty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: group 1, sham-operated rats; group 2, bilateral CN-crushed rats; and group 3, bilateral CN-transection-and-sutured-immediately rats. Oxidative stress was evaluated by malondialdehyde levels, super oxide dismutase (SOD) activities, and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities in serum. Erectile function was assessed by CN electrostimulation at 3 months with mean maximal intracavernous pressure (ICP) and maximal ICP per mean arterial pressure. Nerve injury was assessed by toluidine blue staining of CNs and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase staining of penile tissue. GPX protein expression and nitrotyrosine-3 (NT-3) levels in penile tissue were measured. Erectile function and the number of myelinated axons of CNs and NADPH-diaphorase-positive nerve fibers were statistically decreased between groups, from sham to crush to transection. For markers, both nerve-injury groups showed increased oxidative stress markers at early time points, with the transection group showing greater oxidative stress than the crushed group and values normalizing to sham levels by week 12. GPX expression and NT-3 levels in penile tissue were in concordance with the results of SOD and GPX. These results show that oxidative stress plays an important role in injured CNs, and different methods of CN injury can lead to different degrees of oxidative stress in a rat model.
Estradiol (E₂) and its receptor estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) are implicated in the pathology of stromal-predominant benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF1) is produced primarily by stromal cells in the prostate. Recent study showed that E₂-mediated regulation of IGF1 in mouse uterus requires the DNA binding ability of ERα. However, the crosstalk between ERα and IGF1 in the prostate has not been addressed yet. Therefore, in this study we employed mouse prostatic smooth muscle cells (PSMCs) as a model to demonstrate that E₂ stimulated the proliferation of PSMCs and up-regulated the expression of IGF1 and its receptor IGF1R as well as cyclin D1 in PSMCs, all of which could be inhibited by shRNA-mediated knockdown of ERα. Furthermore, we found that exogenous IGF1 could not promote cell proliferation and cyclin D1 expression in PSMCs subjected to shRNA-mediated knockdown of ERα. Interestingly, blockage of IGF1R by antibody could inhibit E₂-stimulated PSMCs proliferation. Altogether our present study provides the first line of evidence that there is crosstalk between ERα and IGF1 signaling in PSMCs proliferation in which ERα up-regulates the expression of IGF1 and IGF1R, and IGF1 signaling is indispensable to mediate downstream effects of E₂ and ERα.
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