Effects Of Moxibustion On Erectile Function And Signal Pathway In Erectile Dysfunction Rats With Diabetes Mellitus

Objective:To investigate the role of the NO-cGMP and RhoA/Rho signal pathway in the erectile function of rats with diabetic ED treated with moxibustion and provide experimental and theoretical evidence for clinical treatment by studying the influence of moxibustion on the erectile function,the level of blood glucose,the activity of NOS,the concentration of cGMP and the expression of RhoA/Rho kinase(ROCKII) in the penis of rats with diabetic ED.Methods:Male Sprague-Dawley rats with normal erectile function were injected with streptozotozin(STZ) to make experimental models of Diabetes Mellitus(DM).Then apomorphine(APO) was injected into all of the DM rats to select ED rats models with DM. The normal rats were in the blank group and the ED rats were randomly divided into the model group and the moxibustion group. The model group were not being treated and the model-moxibustion group were treated with moxibustion on acupoint "Shenshu" (BL23) and "Zusanli"(ST36). The erection induced by APO was observed before and after the treatment. The blood glucose was examined before and after the treatment. The activity of NOS in the penis was measured with the nitrate reductase method(spectrophotometric analysis).The concentration of cGMP in the penis was measured with radioimmunoassay. The expression of RhoA and Rho kinase (ROCKII) in the penis was measured with RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blot technique, respectively.Results:1.The counts of rats which had the ability of erection (P＜0.05), the erection rate (P＜0.05) and the total frequency of erection (P＞0.05) in the model-moxibustion group were superior to the model group after the treatment. And the counts of rats which had the ability of erection, the erection rate and the total frequency of erection in the model-moxibustion and the model group were inferior to the blank group (P＜0.01).2.There was no difference in the level of blood glucose between the model-moxibustion group and the model group (P＞0.05) before the treatment. The level of blood glucose in the model-moxibustion was lower than the model group (P＜0.05) and The level of blood glucose in the blank group was much lower than that in the model-moxibustion group and the model group (P＜0.01) after the treatment.3.The activity of NOS in the penis in the model-moxibustion group was higher than that in the model group (total NOS,cNOS P＜0.01,iNOS P＜0.05) and lower than that in the blank group(total NOS P＜0.05,cNOS,cNOS P＞0.05) after the treatment. The activity of NOS in the model group was much lower than that in the blank group after the treatment (P＜0.01).4.After the treatment, there was no difference in the concentration of cGMP in the penis between the model-moxibustion group and the blank group (P＞0.05) and the concentration of cGMP in the two groups were much higher than that in the model group (P＜0.01).5.After the treatment, the expression of RhoA mRNA in the penis in the model group measured with RT-PCR increased significantly, compared with that in the blank group (P＜0.05). The expression of RhoA mRNA in the model-moxibustion group was lower than that in the model group, though there was no difference between the two groups (P＞0.05). And there was no difference in the expression of RhoA mRNA between the model-moxibustion group and the blank group (P＞0.05)The expression of RhoA protein in the penis measured with immunohistochemistry technique increased significantly in the model-moxibustion group and the model group, compared with that in the blank group (P＜0.01) after the treatment. And the expression of RhoA protein in the model-moxibustion group was much lower than that in the model group (P＜0.01).The expression of RhoA protein in the penis in the model-moxibustion group and the model group measured with Western blot increased significantly, compared with that in the blank group (P＜0.01) after the treatment. And the expression of RhoA protein in the model-moxibustion group was much lower than that in the model group (P<0.01).6:After the treatment, the expression of ROCKII mRNA in the penis measured with RT-PCR increased significantly in the model-moxibustion group(P＜0.05) and the model group (P＜0.01), compared with that in the blank group. And the expression of ROCKII mRNA in the model-moxibustion group was lower than that in the model group,though there was no difference between the two groups (P＞0.05) The expression of ROCKII protein in the penis tissue measured with immunohistochemistry technique increased significantly in the model-moxibustion group and the model group, compared with that in the blank group (P＜0.01) after the treatment. And the expression of ROCKII protein in the model-moxibustion group was lower than that in the model group (P＜0.05).The expression of ROCKII protein in the penis measured with Western blot increased significantly in the model-moxibustion group(P＜0.05) and the model group (P＜0.01), compared with that in the blank group after the treatment. And the expression of ROCKII mRNA in the model-moxibustion group was lower than that in the model group (P＜0.05).Conclusions:1.Moxibustion could decrease the level of blood glucose and promote the erectile function of rats with diabetic ED.2.Moxibustion could increase the activity of total NOS, cNOS and iNOS and the concentration of cGMP in the penis of rats with diabetic ED, which proved that the NO-cGMP signal pathway might play a role in improving the erectile function when the rats were treated with moxibustion.3.Moxibustion could decrease the expression of RhoA/Rho kinase in the penis of rats with diabetic ED, which proved that the RhoA/Rho kinase signal pathway might also play a role in improving the erectile function when the rats were treated with moxibustion.