Journal of Andrology
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Published-Ahead-of-Print November 14, 2007, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.107.003160

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Changes in the Smooth Muscle of the Corpora Cavernosum Related to Reversal of Partial Bladder Outlet Obstruction in Rabbits

Wei-Yu Lin , Anita Mannikarottu , Paul Chichester , Ahmet Guven , Arnold Johnson , Paul Neuman , Yung-Shun Juan , Catherine Schuler , Barry Kogan , and Robert M Levin *

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: levinr{at}acp.edu.

Previous studies have demonstrated that partial bladder outlet obstruction (PBOO) of the rabbit induced an increase in corpus cavernosum smooth muscle (CCSM) tone which may make the CCSM difficult to relax. Thus, to investigate whether corpus cavernosum restore relaxation after reversal of the PBOO, we investigated the physiological, histological and cell biology in penis obtained from 4 and 8 weeks of reversal of PBOO. CCSM from bladder outlet obstructed and obstruction reversed rabbits showed significant decreases in the contractile responses to phenylephrine. The relaxation responses to electrical field stimulation (EFS), ATP, acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were decreased in obstructed and 4 weeks reversal groups. By 8 weeks of reversal, relaxation of CCSM was increased gradually in response to EFS, SNP, and acetylcholine. However, the response to ATP did not return to control. The ratio of smooth muscle to collagen decreased after obstruction and remained low after reversal. Expressions of both isoforms of Rho-kinase (ROK) were increased in obstruction groups. At reversal of 4 weeks, expression of ROKalpha maintained at obstruction level whereas ROKbeta decreased in comparison to obstruction group. By 8 weeks of reversal, expressions of both ROKalpha and ROKbeta significantly decreased when compared to the obstruction group. These results suggested that the poor relaxation response at reversal 4 weeks was associated with incomplete decreased expression of both isoforms of ROK; whereas incomplete recovery of CCSM relaxation response at reversal 8 weeks may be associated with structural alterations in the corpus cavernosum and irreversible damage from PBOO.


Key words: Erectile Dysfunction • Penis • Reactive Oxygen • outlet obstruction






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