Department of Physiology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Reproductive Biology and Toxicology Research Laboratory, Oasis of Grace Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
Aging Male. 2023 Dec;26(1):2205517. doi: 10.1080/13685538.2023.2205517.
HAART has been shown to impair sexual function and penile erection via perturbation of penile redox balance, while zinc has been established to exert antioxidant activity. Therefore, this study focused on the role and associated molecular mechanism of zinc in HAART-induced sexual and erectile dysfunction.
Twenty male Wistar rats were randomly grouped into four (n = 5 rats per group); the control, zinc-treated, HAART-treated, and HAART + zinc-treated groups. Treatments were per os daily for eight weeks.
Zinc co-administration significantly improved HAART-induced increase in the latencies of mount, intromission, and ejaculations. Zinc also attenuated HAART-induced reduction in the motivation to mate, penile reflex/erection, and frequencies of mount, intromission, and ejaculations. In addition, zinc co-treatment improved HAART-induced decline in penile NO and cGMP, dopamine, and serum testosterone. More so, zinc prevented HAART-induced rise in penile activities of monoamine oxidase, acetylcholinesterase, phosphodiesterase-5, and arginase. Furthermore, concomitant treatment with zinc ameliorated HAART-induced penile oxidative stress and inflammation.
In conclusion, our present findings show that zinc improves sexual and erectile function in HAART-treated rats by upregulating erectogenic enzymes via the maintenance of penile redox balance.
高效抗逆转录病毒治疗（HAART）通过干扰阴茎氧化还原平衡损害性功能和阴茎勃起，而锌已被证实具有抗氧化活性。因此，本研究专注于锌在 HAART 诱导的性和勃起功能障碍中的作用及其相关分子机制。
20 只雄性 Wistar 大鼠随机分为四组（每组 n=5 只）；对照组、锌处理组、HAART 处理组和 HAART+锌处理组。治疗方法为每天口服，持续八周。
锌共给药显著改善了 HAART 诱导的勃起潜伏期、插入潜伏期和射精潜伏期的增加。锌还减轻了 HAART 诱导的交配动机、阴茎反射/勃起以及勃起、插入和射精频率的降低。此外，锌共处理改善了 HAART 诱导的阴茎一氧化氮和环磷酸鸟苷、多巴胺和血清睾酮的下降。更重要的是，锌可防止 HAART 诱导的阴茎单胺氧化酶、乙酰胆碱酯酶、磷酸二酯酶-5 和精氨酸酶活性升高。此外，锌的伴随治疗改善了 HAART 诱导的阴茎氧化应激和炎症。
综上所述，我们的研究结果表明，锌通过维持阴茎氧化还原平衡来上调勃起相关酶，从而改善 HAART 治疗大鼠的性功能和勃起功能。
