[Hongjing-1 Recipe maintains the expression level of Connexin43 in the penile tissue of SD rats with bilateral cavernous nerve injury].

Objective: To explore the effects of Hongjing-1 Recipe (HJ-1) on erectile function and the expression of the gap junction protein Connexin43 (Cx43) in the penile tissue in male rats with bilateral cavernous nerve injury (BCNI).

Methods: Fifty male SD rats were randomly divided into five groups of an equal number: sham operation, BCNI model control, and low-, medium- and high-dose HJ-1. The BCNI model was made in the latter four groups by clamping the bilateral cavernous nerves with hemostatic forceps.

Neuroprotective effect of Hongjing I granules on erectile dysfunction in a rat model of bilateral cavernous nerve injury.

Neurogenic erectile dysfunction (NED) is an inevitable postoperative disease of cavernous nerve injury which will lead to various pathophysiological changes in the corpus cavernosum and dorsal penile nerve caused by radical prostatectomy (RP). Although serval years of clinical application of HJIG I granules (HJIG), an innovative formulation, has demonstrated its reliable clinical efficacy against NED, the mechanism of HJIG remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the neuroprotective effect of HJIG, to repair damaged nerves in a rat model of bilateral cavernous nerve injury (BCNI) in vivo and their effects on neurites of major pelvic ganglia (MPG) regeneration and Schwann cells (SCs) proliferation in vitro.

[Inhibitory effect of salidroside on H2O2-induced down-regulation of Cx43 expression in corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells in rats].

Objective: To explore the regulatory effect of salidroside on H2O2-induced decrease in the expression of the connexin43 (Cx43) protein in corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (CCSMC).

Methods: Rat CCSMCs were isolated, primarily cultured in vitro and identified by immunocytochemical assay. The optimum concentration of H2O2 for intervention was determined by detecting its effect on the viability of the CCSMCs and used in the treatment of the CCSMCs for different lengths of time, and meanwhile salidroside was applied at 16 μg/ml (low dose) or 64 μg/ml (high dose) for intervention.