Han Zi-Yang, Zhang Zi-Heng, Wang Heng, Chen Yun
Department of Andrology, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine / Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, China.
Zhonghua Nan Ke Xue. 2022 Apr;28(4):332-338.
To investigate the therapeutic effect of the Chinese medicine leech powder (LP) on hyperlipidaemia-associated ED (HLED) in male rats.
We randomly divided 50 eight-week-old male SD rats into five groups, blank control, HLED model control, tadalafil and low- and high-dose leech powder. After establishment of the HLED model by high-fat diet, we treated the rats in the latter three groups by intragastric administration of tadalafil at 5 mg/kg/d, LP at 0.3 g/kg/d and LP at 1.8 g/kg/d, respectively, all for 4 weeks. We examined the erectile function of the rats by mating experiment, apomorphine assay, and measurement of intracavernosal pressure (ICP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP), obtained the levels of blood glucose, lipid, serum total superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), observed the pathological changes in the rat liver and penile tissue by HE staining, and determined the expressions of NF-κB, MCP-1 and PDE5A in penile tissue by Western blot.
Compared with the HLED model controls, all the rats in the tadalafil and LP intervention groups showed significantly improved erectile function (P < 0.05), increased erection frequency, ICPmax and ICPmax/MAP ratio, even more significantly in the LP groups; the levels of LDL, TC and TG were remarkably decreased in the three treatment groups (P < 0.05), most significantly in the low-dose LP group; the content of SOD was markedly increased while those of MDA and ox-LDL decreased after intervention (P < 0.05). The results of Western blot revealed that the expressions of NF-κB and MCP-1 in the testis tissue was down-regulated in the tadalafil and high-dose LP groups while that of PDE5A up-regulated in the tadalafil and low-dose LP groups.
Leech powder can improve erectile function in male rats with hyperlipidaemia-associated ED by reducing blood lipid levels and oxidative stress, which may related to the NF-κB signaling pathway.
探讨中药水蛭粉（LP）对雄性大鼠高脂血症相关性勃起功能障碍（HLED）的治疗作用。
将50只8周龄雄性SD大鼠随机分为5组，即空白对照组、HLED模型对照组、他达拉非组以及低剂量和高剂量水蛭粉组。采用高脂饮食建立HLED模型后，对后三组大鼠分别进行灌胃给药，他达拉非剂量为5 mg/kg/d，低剂量水蛭粉为0.3 g/kg/d，高剂量水蛭粉为1.8 g/kg/d，均持续4周。通过交配实验、阿扑吗啡试验以及测量阴茎海绵体内压（ICP）和平均动脉压（MAP）来检测大鼠的勃起功能，测定血糖、血脂、血清总超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、丙二醛（MDA）和氧化型低密度脂蛋白（ox-LDL）水平，通过苏木精-伊红（HE）染色观察大鼠肝脏和阴茎组织的病理变化，并采用蛋白质免疫印迹法检测阴茎组织中核因子κB（NF-κB）及单核细胞趋化蛋白-1（MCP-1）和磷酸二酯酶5A（PDE5A）的表达。
与HLED模型对照组相比，他达拉非组和水蛭粉干预组大鼠的勃起功能均显著改善（P < 0.05），勃起频率、最大阴茎海绵体内压（ICPmax）及ICPmax/MAP比值均增加，水蛭粉组更为显著；三个治疗组的低密度脂蛋白（LDL）、总胆固醇（TC）和甘油三酯（TG）水平均显著降低（P < 0.05），低剂量水蛭粉组降幅最大；干预后SOD含量显著增加，MDA和ox-LDL含量降低（P < 0.05）。蛋白质免疫印迹法结果显示，他达拉非组及高剂量水蛭粉组睾丸组织中NF-κB和MCP-1的表达下调，他达拉非组及低剂量水蛭粉组PDE5A的表达上调。
水蛭粉可通过降低血脂水平和氧化应激改善高脂血症相关性勃起功能障碍雄性大鼠的勃起功能，其机制可能与NF-κB信号通路有关。
