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Updated: May 9, 2026

Intracavernosal Pressure Recording to Evaluate Erectile Function in Rodents
Published on: June 6, 2018
Oral L-citrulline supplementation improves erectile function in rats with acute arteriogenic erectile dysfunction
Arufumi Shiota1, Yuji Hotta, Tomoya Kataoka
1Department of Hospital Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Japan.
Introduction:
Oral L-citrulline supplementation increases serum L-arginine levels more efficiently than L-arginine itself and increases nitric oxide (NO) production.
Aim:
To investigate whether oral L-citrulline supplementation improves erectile function in rats with acute arteriogenic erectile dysfunction (ED).
Methods:
We divided 8-week-old male Wistar-ST rats into 3 groups: sham-operated rats (control group), arteriogenic ED rats who underwent ligation of both internal iliac arteries (ligation group), and arteriogenic ED rats receiving oral 2% L-citrulline water supplementation (citrulline group). Citrulline water was given to arteriogenic ED rats for 3 weeks from 1 week after surgery. Erectile function was evaluated by maximum intracavernous pressure/mean arterial pressure (ICP/MAP) ratios via cavernous nerve stimulation at 4 weeks after surgery. Then, the penises were resected, stained with Masson's trichrome, and observed microscopically. Serum nitrogen oxides (NOx) levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Bonferroni's multiple t-test was used for statistical analysis.
Main Outcome Measures:
The main outcome measures were changes in ICP/MAP, smooth muscle (SM)/collagen ratios, and NOx levels following L-citrulline supplementation.
Results:
The ICP/MAP ratio in the ligation group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05), denoting ED. The ICP/MAP ratio of the citrulline group was significantly higher than that of the ligation group (P<0.05), indicating ED amelioration. Levels of NOx in the ligation group were significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05), while those in the citrulline group were significantly higher than in the ligation group (P<0.05). SM/collagen ratios in the ligation group were significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05), while ratios in the citrulline group were significantly higher than those in the ligation group (P<0.05).
Conclusions:
Oral L-citrulline supplementation improved ICP/MAP and SM/collagen ratios and increased NOx. Therefore, oral L-citrulline supplementation might be a useful novel therapy for acute arteriogenic ED.
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