Treatment of erectile dysfunction in the obese type 2 diabetic ZDF rat with adipose tissue-derived stem cells.

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)

Introduction Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a major complication of type 2 diabetes, and many diabetic men with ED are refractory to common ED therapies. Aim To determine whether autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) injected into the penis of impotent type 2 diabetic rats improve erectile function. Main outcome measures Blood glucose levels, intracavernous pressure (ICP) increase upon cavernous nerve (CN) electrostimulation, and immunohistochemistry. Methods Twenty-two male Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats were used. At 22 weeks of age, all the animals underwent unilateral CN electrostimulation and ICP measurement to confirm impotence. Paragonadal adipose tissue was harvested to procure ADSCs. The impotent animals were randomized to ADSC treatment and sham control groups. At 23 weeks of age, the treatment group animals underwent a penile injection of 1 million ADSCs; the control group animals received vehicle only. Erectile function studies were repeated at 26 weeks of age, followed by tissue harvest. Results The rats developed diabetes within the first 10 weeks of age. At 22 weeks of age, 20 out of the 22 rats presented with ED. The post-treatment ICP increase during CN stimulation and ICP increase/mean arterial pressure were significantly higher in the treatment group compared with controls. Three weeks after injection into the corpus cavernosum, only a small nu

Evidence level

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

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.