The Effect Of Glutathione On Preventing Erectile Dysfunction In Diabetic Rats

Objective: To investigate the effect of glutathione on preventing erectile dysfunction in diabetic rats.Method: 36 male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were induced for diabetes by an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin,taking the blood glucose﹥16.7mmol/l and urine glucose positive extremely as standard. Then the diabetic rats were randomly divided into DM group and DM+GSH group.The rats in DM+GSH group were treated with GSH at a dosage of 200mg/kg through a intramuscular injection every day.Ten weeks later,the blood glucose were tested again;and the erectile function of all these rats were evaluated by an subcutaneous injection of Apomorphine;and their penises harvested.The GSH,NOS and MDA level in corpus cavernosum were measured;TUNEL assay was used to analyse the penile cells for apoptosis.Result: The diabetic rat model was successfully established.The erectile function was much better in normal control group(group C,100%) and DM+GSH group(62.5%) than DM group (20%),P<0.05;for the rats whose penis could erect,the erected times were 3.46±1.31, 3.05±1.18 and 1.00±0.00 in half an hour, respectively,P<0.05.The glutathione level in DM group was significantly decreased(35.03±12.29mg/gprot),compared to group C(61.47±8.65 mg/gprot) and DM+GSH group(75.83±15.62 mg/gprot),P<0.05.The NOS level was approximately equal in DM+GSH group(133.9±31.9 U/mgprot) and group C(142.2±31.2 U/mgprot),both much higher than in DM group(58.4±18.9 U/mgprot),P<0.05.The malondialdehyde content in corpus cavernosum was markedly increased in DM group (3.71±0.62nmol/mgprot),compared to group C(2.08±0.34nmol/mgprot) and DM+GSH group (2.44±0.28nmol/mgprot), P<0.05.TNUEL showed significantly differences in apoptosis in these groups,and the apoptosis rate in DM group, DM+GSH group and group C were 22.6±3.6%,10.8±1.7% and 7.2±2.1%, respectively.Conclusion: The glutathione has the effect of antioxidation on diabetic rats penis tissues,which can decrease the apoptosis of corpus cavernosum cells,and may play some role in delaying the onset of diabetic erectile dysfunction.