Experimental Study On The Protein And Gene Expressions Of ENOS,Cx43 In Diabetic Rat With Erectile Dysfunction

Objective To investigate the protein and mRNA expressions of eNOS and Cx43 in penis tissue with Erectile Dysfunction (ED) of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and study the mechanism of Diabetic Erectile Dysfunction(DED).Methods From 30 male SD rats with normal erectile function, 5 were chosen randomly as the normal group and 25 to establish diabetic models with Alloxan.22 diabetic rats were obtained.3 rats without DM were gotten as the drug-control group. After 8 weeks, 8 rats with ED were selected as the DED group from 12 living diabetic rats by hypodermic injection of apomorphine and 4 rats with erectile function as the DM group. The protein expressions of eNOS and Cx43 in penis tissue were studied with Immunohistochemistry.The mRNA expressions were studied with RT-PCR.Results Immunohistochemistry showed that there were eNOS protein expressions in the cytoplasm and cell membrane of the rat's cavernous sinus smooth muscle cell but only in the cytoplasm of the blood vessel endothelium cell. The cavernous sinus smooth muscle cell membrane also showed the Cx43 protein expressions. There was no difference between the normal group and the drug-control group. The eNOS protein expression was decreased but the Cx43 protein expression was increased in the DM group. These changes were more obvious in the DED group. Of the normal group, DM group and DED group, the expression levels of eNOS mRNA were 0.811±0.241, 0.508±0.242 and 0.155±0.157 respectively with RT-PCR. The differences were statistically significant (P<0.05), especially the DED group (P<0.01).The expressions levels of Cx43 mRNA were 0.345±0.196, 0.545±0.138 and 0.993±0.157 respectively. The Cx43 mRNA expression of the DED group was increased most obviously (P<0.01).The eNOS and Cx43 mRNA expressions levels of the drug-control group were 0.823±0.280 and 0.336±0.129 which showed no statistical difference from the normal group. The eNOS and Cx43 mRNA expressions were marked inverse correlated(r=-0.987).Conclusions The decreasing expression of eNOS maybe the one of the mechanisms in the development of DED, while the body may improve the erectile function through the increasing expression level of Cx43 in penis tissue.