Resident Urologist Bagcilar Research and Training Hospital
Introduction: Priapism is an erection of the penis that lasts longer than four hours, independent of sexual desire and arousal. Erectile dysfunction develops in 90% of cases of ischemic priapism lasting longer than 24 hours, secondary to fibrosis. The demonstration that MSC prevents fibrosis in different tissues has brought to mind the use of stem cells in diseases with fibrosis in the penile tissue. In this study, it was aimed to show the effect of intracavernosal mesenchymal stem cell therapy (IMSCT) on functional and histological recovery in ischemic priapism model. Methods: A total of 30 Wistar Albino male rats were included in the study. Rats were divided into three experimental groups as sham, ischemic priapism model, and ischemic priapism + IMSCT. The latter groups were divided into additional subgroups as one-hour and 12 hours ischemic priapism models were applied to animals. Electrophysiologic parameters such as intracavernosal and systemic arterial pressures, and histopathological parameters including smooth muscle to collagen ratio, tissue fibrosis, elastin expression, and tissue e-NOS, n-NOS, i-NOS expressions were statistically compared in main groups and subgroups (Table 1 and 2). Molecular parameters such as TGF, VEGF, NGF, and BDNF were also compared. Results: In the initial analysis, significant deterioration was detected in most of the parameters in the ischemic priapism model (Table 1). These findings proved our model as an effective procedure. When comparing the model and the model + IMSCT groups, most of the parameters exhibited significant enhancements. (Table 1). During subgroup analyses, we demonstrated significant therapeutic effects of IMSCT, particularly at the in the 1-h model of priapism. Conclusions: Our study revealed the potential therapeutic activity of IMSCT on the ischemic priapism model, especially in the prolonged ischemic period. Further studies are needed to implicate the IMSCT in clinical practice. SOURCE OF Funding: None
