Department of Hospital Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Japan.
J Sex Med. 2013 Oct;10(10):2423-9. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12260. Epub 2013 Jul 11.
Oral L-citrulline supplementation increases serum L-arginine levels more efficiently than L-arginine itself and increases nitric oxide (NO) production.
To investigate whether oral L-citrulline supplementation improves erectile function in rats with acute arteriogenic erectile dysfunction (ED).
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.
The main outcome measures were changes in ICP/MAP, smooth muscle (SM)/collagen ratios, and NOx levels following L-citrulline supplementation.
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).
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.
口服 L-瓜氨酸补充剂比 L-精氨酸本身更有效地提高血清 L-精氨酸水平，并增加一氧化氮（NO）的产生。
研究口服 L-瓜氨酸补充剂是否能改善急性动脉性勃起功能障碍（ED）大鼠的勃起功能。
我们将 8 周龄雄性 Wistar-ST 大鼠分为 3 组：假手术大鼠（对照组）、内髂动脉结扎的动脉性 ED 大鼠（结扎组）和接受口服 2% L-瓜氨酸水补充剂的动脉性 ED 大鼠（瓜氨酸组）。从手术后 1 周开始，瓜氨酸水给予动脉性 ED 大鼠 3 周。通过在手术后 4 周时通过海绵体神经刺激评估最大海绵体内压/平均动脉压（ICP/MAP）比值。然后，切除阴茎，用 Masson 三色染色，显微镜下观察。通过高效液相色谱法测量血清氮氧化物（NOx）水平。使用 Bonferroni 多重 t 检验进行统计分析。
主要观察指标为 L-瓜氨酸补充后 ICP/MAP、平滑肌（SM）/胶原比和 NOx 水平的变化。
结扎组的 ICP/MAP 比值明显低于对照组（P<0.05），表示 ED。瓜氨酸组的 ICP/MAP 比值明显高于结扎组（P<0.05），表明 ED 得到改善。结扎组的 NOx 水平明显低于对照组（P<0.05），而瓜氨酸组明显高于结扎组（P<0.05）。结扎组的 SM/胶原比明显低于对照组（P<0.05），而瓜氨酸组明显高于结扎组（P<0.05）。
口服 L-瓜氨酸补充可改善 ICP/MAP 和 SM/胶原比并增加 NOx。因此，口服 L-瓜氨酸补充可能是治疗急性动脉性 ED 的一种有用的新疗法。
