Traumatic arteriogenic erectile dysfunction: a rat model

We developed a rat model of traumatic arteriogenic erectile dysfunction (ED) for the study of vasculogenic ED. Bilateral ligation of the internal iliac artery was performed on 30 three-month old male Sprague-Dawley rats as an experimental group. The control group consisted of 12 rats which underwent dissection of the internal iliac artery without ligation. Before their euthanization at 3 days, 7 days, and 1 month (10 rats in the experimental group and four rats in the control group at each time point), erectile function was assessed by electrostimulation of the cavernous nerves. Penile tissues were collected for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) diaphorase staining, trichrome staining, electron microscopy and RT-PCR for transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta1), insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and fibroblast growth factors (FGF) mRNA expression. Electrostimulation of the cavernous nerves revealed a highly significant declining of the intracavernous pressure after 3 and 7 days. No significant recovery of erectile function was noted at 1 month. Histology showed degeneration of the dorsal nerve fibers in all experimental rats. There was little decrease in the bulk of intracavernous smooth muscle in the experimental rats euthanazed 7 and 30 days. NADPH diaphorase staining revealed a significant decrease in nitric oxide synthase (NOS) containing nerve fibers in the dorsal and intracavernosal nerves in all rats in the experimental group. Electron microscopy showed a variety of changes such as collapse of sinusoids, increased cell debris, fibroblast and myofibroblast loss, intracellular deposition of fat and collagen and fatty degeneration. RT-PCR revealed up-regulation of TGF-beta1 after 3 days but not after 7 days or 1 month. There is no significant difference in IGF-I or FGF expression between the experimental and control group. Bilateral ligation of internal iliac arteries produces a reliable animal model for traumatic arteriogenic ED. Further studies are needed to investigate the molecular mechanism of ED in this model.