Neuromedin B Restores Erectile Function by Protecting the Cavernous Body and the Nitrergic Nerves from Injury in a Diabetic Rat Model.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a major health problem worldwide and affects approximately 75% of diabetic patients, likely due to severely damaged cavernous body. While screening for cytokines produced by adipose tissue-derived stem cells, we detected neuromedin B (NMB). To explore a potential treatment option for ED, we examined whether NMB was capable of restoring erectile function. We also examined the potential mechanism by which NMB could restore erectile function. Male Wistar rats were injected with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce diabetes. An adenovirus expressing NMB (AdNMB) was injected into the penis 6 weeks after STZ administration. Four weeks after the injection of AdNMB, erectile function, penile histology, and protein expression were analyzed. As assessed by the measurement of intracavernous pressure, AdNMB injection significantly restored erectile function compared with the injection of an adenovirus expressing green fluorescent protein. This restoration was associated with conservation of the cavernous body structure and neural nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)-expressing nerves, together with recovery of α-smooth muscle actin, vascular endothelial-cadherin, and nNOS expression. Furthermore, NMB significantly stimulated the survival of SH-SY5Y cells derived from human neuroblastoma tissue with characteristics similar to neurons. Collectively, these results suggested tha

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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