Erectile dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats: pathophysiological mechanisms
1 Pelvipharm, Domaine Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, 91190 Gif sur Yvette; 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Broussais Hospital, 75014 Paris; and 3 Groupe de Recherche en Urologie, Unité Propre de Recherche de l'Enseignement Supérieur, Medical University of Paris South, 94275 Le...
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| Published in: | American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology integrative and comparative physiology, 2003-03, Vol.284 (3), p.682-R688 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | 1 Pelvipharm, Domaine Centre National de Recherche
Scientifique, 91190 Gif sur Yvette; 2 Department of
Internal Medicine, Broussais Hospital, 75014 Paris; and
3 Groupe de Recherche en Urologie, Unité Propre de
Recherche de l'Enseignement Supérieur, Medical University of
Paris South, 94275 Le Kremlin Bicêtre Cedex,
France
Hypertensive men have a higher
prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) than the general population.
Experimental evidence of ED in hypertensive animals is scarce. This
study evaluates the erectile function of spontaneously hypertensive
rats (SHR) and age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) in vivo
by the increase in intracavernosal pressure after electrical
stimulation of the cavernous nerve (CN) and by isometric tension
studies on corporal strips. Frequency-dependent erectile responses to
CN stimulations were reduced in SHR. Phenylephrine induced lower corporal contractions in SHR although pD 2 values were
similar to WKY. Endothelium-dependent relaxations to ACh were impaired significantly in SHR, and indomethacin improved these relaxations in
both WKY and SHR, the latter thus reaching values similar to WKY.
Corporal relaxations to sodium nitroprusside were enhanced in SHR. Thus
a dysfunctional -adrenergic contraction of the corporal smooth
muscle, an increased cyclooxygenase-dependent constrictor tone, and/or
a defect in endothelium-dependent reactivity are associated with the
altered erectile mechanisms in SHR. Drugs targeting endothelial
dysfunction may delay the occurrence of ED as a complication of hypertension.
hypertension; endothelial dysfunction; corpus cavernosum |
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| ISSN: | 0363-6119 1522-1490 |