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Published on: September 8, 2015
Are the Cavernous Tissue and Serum Levels of Micro RNAs 200a and 206 Elevated in Patients With Refractory
Sameh Fayek GamalEl Din1, Laila Ahmed Rashed2, Hany Ahmed Alghobary3
1Department of Andrology and STDs, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Objective:
To evaluate the association between miRNAs and veno-occlusive erectile dysfunction. Recently, this association between miRNAs and erectile dysfunction was extensively studied using animal models. Our aim was to explore the miRNAs expressions and functions in the development of erectile dysfunction, especially veno-occlusive dysfunction, using a human tissue.
Patients And Methods:
We prospectively recruited 60 patients with erectile dysfunction and controls between July 2015 and July 2016. The 30 patients had refractory veno-occlusive erectile dysfunction that was proven by investigations. They were scheduled for penile implant. The 30 controls were scheduled for repair of their fracture. We measured miRNAs (200a and 206) and nitric oxide in cavernous tissue and serum of both patients with erectile dysfunction and controls.
Results:
A significant association was found between the 2 mentioned miRNAs and erectile dysfunction (P <.001). Mean level of nitric oxide in cavernous tissue of the controls was significantly higher than that in the patients (P <.001). miRNA 200a showed a cutoff value of 1.135 with 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity, whereas miRNA 206 showed a cutoff value of 1.125 with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity.
Conclusion:
To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first report to measure the level of miRNAs in the cavernous tissue, using a human tissue. Furthermore, this study can be considered a good step of deploying miRNAs through a blood test to detect early negative changes that lead to erectile dysfunction. Finally, we recommend more studies to be conducted to better understand if these miRNAs are involved in the pathophysiology of veno-occlusive erectile dysfunction.
