Effects of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy for cavernous nerve injury-induced erectile dysfunction in the rat model.

Wei WANG; Ying LIU; Zi-Hao ZHOU; Kun PANG; Jing-Kai WANG; Peng-Fei HUAN; Jing-Ru LU; Tao ZHU; Zuo-Bin ZHU; Cong-Hui HAN

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Effects of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy for cavernous nerve injury-induced erectile dysfunction in the rat model.

Author: Wei WANG ¹ ; Ying LIU ² ; Zi-Hao ZHOU ³ ; Kun PANG ⁴ ; Jing-Kai WANG ⁵ ; Peng-Fei HUAN ⁴ ; Jing-Ru LU ⁶ ; Tao ZHU ⁷ ; Zuo-Bin ZHU ⁷ ; Cong-Hui HAN ¹
Author Information

1. School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing 210000, China.
2. Department of Central Laboratory, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou 221000, China.
3. Department of Urology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519000, China.
4. Department of Urology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou 221000, China.
5. School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212000, China.
6. Department of Nephrology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan 250000, China.
7. Department of Genetics, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221000, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: cavernous nerve injury; doses; erectile dysfunction; human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells
MeSH: Male; Animals; Erectile Dysfunction/metabolism*; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation/methods*; Rats; Penis/pathology*; Humans; Disease Models, Animal; Umbilical Cord/cytology*; Peripheral Nerve Injuries/complications*; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III/metabolism*; Actins/metabolism*; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I/metabolism*
From: Asian Journal of Andrology 2025;27(4):508-515
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract: Stem cell treatment may enhance erectile dysfunction (ED) in individuals with cavernous nerve injury (CNI). Nevertheless, no investigations have directly ascertained the implications of varying amounts of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) on ED. We compare the efficacy of three various doses of HUC-MSCs as a therapeutic strategy for ED. Sprague-Dawley rats (total = 175) were randomly allocated into five groups. A total of 35 rats underwent sham surgery and 140 rats endured bilateral CNI and were treated with vehicles or doses of HUC-MSCs (1 × 10 6 cells, 5 × 10 6 cells, and 1 × 10 7 cells in 0.1 ml, respectively). Penile tissues were harvested for histological analysis on 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, 28 days, 60 days, and 90 days postsurgery. It was found that varying dosages of HUC-MSCs enhanced the erectile function of rats with bilateral CNI and ED. Moreover, there was no significant disparity in the effectiveness of various dosages of HUC-MSCs. However, the expression of endothelial markers (rat endothelial cell antigen-1 [RECA-1] and endothelial nitric oxide synthase [eNOS]), smooth muscle markers (alpha smooth muscle actin [α-SMA] and desmin), and neural markers (neurofilament [RECA-1] and neurogenic nitric oxide synthase [nNOS]) increased significantly with prolonged treatment time. Masson's staining demonstrated an increased in the smooth muscle cell (SMC)/collagen ratio. Significant changes were detected in the microstructures of various types of cells. In vivo imaging system (IVIS) analysis showed that at the 1 st day, the HUC-MSCs implanted moved to the site of damage. Additionally, the oxidative stress levels were dramatically reduced in the penises of rats administered with HUC-MSCs.