title: Combined strategy of mesenchymal stem cell injection with vascular endothelial growth factor gene therapy for the treatment of diabetes-associated erectile dysfunction.
abstract: This study was designed to investigate the effect of vascular endothelial  growth factor 164 adenovirus (Ad-VEGF(164))-transfected  mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) on improving erectile function in diabetic rats.  Forty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with streptozotocin to  develop type 1 diabetes, whereas 10 served as normal controls. Diabetic rats  were randomly divided into 3 groups: rats that underwent intracavernous  injection with phosphate-buffered saline (DM+PBS), unmodified MSCs (DM+MSC),  and Ad-VEGF(164)-transfected MSCs (DM+VMSC). Normal controls  received intracavernous injection of PBS. Four weeks after injection, erectile  function was measured by cavernous nerve electrostimulation. Penile tissue was  harvested for histology and enzyme-linked immunoassay. Prior to injection,  high expression of VEGF was confirmed in  Ad-VEGF(164)-transfected MSCs by enzyme-linked immunoassay.  Four weeks after injection, the erectile function, as well as the content of  smooth muscle and endothelium in corpus cavernosum increased significantly in  the MSC-injected groups compared with the DM+PBS group. There was a  significant improvement of erectile function, the content of smooth muscle and  endothelium, and the VEGF concentration in the corpus cavernosum in the  DM+VMSC group compared with the DM+MSC group. Our study validates the effect  of intracavernous injection of MSCs for diabetes-associated erectile  dysfunction in an animal model. The combined strategy of MSC injection with  VEGF gene therapy-enhanced therapy of MSCs for the treatment of  diabetes-associated erectile dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. hydewoods@gmail.com
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Haocheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Zhaorui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Run
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yutian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A