A standardized procedure for using human corpus cavernosum strips to evaluate drug activity

The main problem of using human corpus cavernosum (HCC) tissue to perform bioassay is linked to its limited availability further complicated by the heterogeneous source of the tissues used. Here, we show that gender reassignment is a reliable source of human tissue without major ethical problems. Indeed, the entire corpus cavernosum is obtained from the surgery procedure, which allows creating a standardized procedure to prepare HCC strip. In addition, human tissue, if kept in the fridge in the condition described, does not loose its ability to contract to phenylephrine (PE; alpha agonist), angiotensin II (AG II) and KCl up to 4 days. Furthermore, once contracted with PE, HCC relaxes to acetylcholine (endothelium-dependent mechanism); sodium nitroprusside (endothelium-independent mechanism); cromakalim (CRK), a K(ATP) channel opener; or alprostadil, a synthetic PGE2 (ALPR). In conclusion, we have standardized a procedure that allows the use of HCC strips to evaluate drug activity and/or to study pathophysiological mechanisms with an intact functional human tissue up to 4 days from the surgery procedure.