2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Aging and functional changes of central nervous system controlling penile erection
| Project/Area Number |
12671547
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Urology
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| Research Institution | Sapporo Medical University |
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Principal Investigator |
MASUMORI Naoya Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (20295356)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SATO Yoshikazu Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (50235420)
TSUKAMOTO Taiji Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (50112454)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2002
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| Keywords | penile erection / Intracavemous pressure / central regulation / peripheral regulation / castration / testosterone |
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| Research Abstract |
Deterioration of erectile function with aging has been reported to depend on local decrease of functional capacity of penile cavemosum. While its decrease may be involved in, erectile capacity is also regulated by integration of the central nervous system, which affects deterioration of the function with aging. However, there have been only a few reports that have studied how central regulation is involved in the decrease of erectile capacity with aging.
One of reasons why the mechanism still remains to be determined is a lack of appropriate experimental model that can evaluate the relationship between function of central nervous system and erectile capacity. When this mechanism is partly clarified, this may lead to development of new therapeutic modalities for erectile dysfunction. We have recently developed rat model in which penile erection is elicited by electric stimulation to the medial preoptic area (MPOA), the pivotal area for regulation of sexual function. In this study, the rat model was validated for measurement of intracavemous pressure (ICP) by electric stimulation as penile capacity and evaluated decline of the capacity with aging. We also studied how erectile capacity was affected by changes of endocrine milieu by castration with or without testosterone supplement. After confirming the model system was able to evaluate change of ICP with aging, we measured the pressure change by electric stimulation after castration. Decrease of testosterone by castration produced remarkable decrease of the ICP. The extent of the decrease was more prominent in the central electric stimulation than in local one. Testosterone supplement restored erectile capacity produced by electric stimulation. These results suggested that decline of erectile capacity with aging may be mainly regulated by central function. The new therapeutic modalities should be targeted to this mechanism.
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