Effect of Asthma on Erectile Dysfunction in Rats as Determined by Biological Network Analysis

Abstract

Background We explored the effect of asthma on erectile dysfunction (ED) and the effects of the expression of related proteins. Material/Methods We used a bioinformatics database to predict the targets and pathways associated with asthma and ED. The rat model of asthma was caused by an ovalbumin solution. The number of erections in 30 min was observed by injecting apomorphine into the neck at a dose of 100 μg/kg. Rats with no erection were regarded as the model group (group B), and the previous random 6 normal rats were regarded as the control group (group A). We used hematoxylin and eosin (HE) to compare the tissue structure of the cavernous body of the penis. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting were used to determine the expression levels of insulin (INS), interleukin 6 (IL6), albumin (ALB), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) at both the protein and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels. Results HE staining results show that compared with group A, the blood sinus distribution of the cavernous body in group B was disordered, and the density of endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells decreased significantly. Western blotting and RT-qPCR showed that the levels of IL6, TNF, and VEGFA protein and mRNA in group B were significantly higher ( P <0.05) than those in group A. The levels of INS and ALB were not significantly different between the 2 groups. Conclusions On the basis of the results, we found that asthma caused pathological changes in the penises of rats and led to reduced erectile function via changes in the expression of IL6, TNF, and VEGFA proteins.

Xuefu Zhuyu decoction improves asthma‐induced asthenozoospermia based on network pharmacology and in vivo experiment

“…The network analyser was used to calculate the ‘degree’ of each node to obtain the top‐ranked compounds. In addition, the Cytoscape plug‐in cytohubba was used to further analyse the PPI network to identify the top‐ranked targets (Wang et al., 2020).…”

“…The STRING database (https://strin g-db.org/) was used to identify possible PPIs, and at the same time, the interaction score was adjusted to greater than 0.4 to ensure the reliability of the data (Wang et al, 2020). The results were saved for network construction and further analysis.…”

“…The relevant targets of XFZYD for the treatment of asthenozoospermia caused by asthma were imported into the DAVID database (https:// david.ncifc rf.gov/, version 6.8), set the Select Identifier to OFFICIAL GENE SYMBOL and set the List Type to Gene List; subsequently, the GO analysis and KEGG pathway analysis results of XFZYD used to treat asthenozoospermia caused by asthma were saved (Wang et al, 2020).…”

In vitro and in vivo investigation of the therapeutic mechanism of Lycium Chinense and Cuscutae Semen on oligoasthenozoospermia

“…To improve the reliability of the data obtained, each PPI was filtered further, with a minimum interaction score of 0.40. The filtered PPI was used for network construction and analyses (Wang, Gong, Deng, et al., 2020; Wang, Gong, Meng, et al, 2020).…”

“…The concept of network pharmacology is derived from the introduction of systems biology and the application of bioinformatics, as well as from the ‘omics’ theories related to the development of modern genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Based on the ‘disease‐gene‐target‐drug’ interaction network, a network analysis method was used to observe the intervention and influence of drugs on the disease network, and to determine the synergistic effect of multiple drugs (Wang, Gong, Deng, et al., 2020; Wang, Gong, Meng, et al, 2020). First, network pharmacology was used to predict key active ingredients and targets.…”