title: Erectile functional restoration with genital branch of genitofemoral nerve to cavernous nerve transfer after bilateral cavernous nerve resection in the rat.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the feasibility of erectile function restoration by genital branch of genitofemoral nerve (GN) to cavernous nerve (CN) transfer in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty adult (3 months) male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups (n = 10 per group). Rats in sham group underwent sham operation, rats in nerve resection (NR) group underwent bilateral GN and CN resection to make a 2.5-mm gap, and rats in nerve transfer (NT) group underwent nerve anastomosis bilaterally between proximal stump of GN and distal stump of CN after nerve resection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three months postoperatively, mating test observed 70% rats with intromission behaviors in NT group but only 10% rats in NR group. Electrostimulating the GN of NT group rats resulted in a significant increase in intracavernous pressure, and the ratio of intracavernous pressure increase to mean arterial pressure in NT group was significantly higher than that in NR group. Seven days after Fluoro-Gold injection into the penile crus, Fluoro-Gold-labeled neurons were found in ventral horn of L1 and L2 in NT group, indicating that a new erectile efferent pathway might be established. Axon counting and ultrastructure observation confirmed axonal regeneration in NT group. Furthermore, NT group had a higher expression of nitric oxide synthase in the dorsal penile nerve than that in NR group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results have demonstrated that nerve regeneration can be obtained, and erectile function may be restored after GN to CN nerve transfer in bilateral CN resection rats, which provides an innovative and promising treatment for neurogenic erectile dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Zili
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Renfeng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xinchao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China; Department of Urology, The First College of Clinical Medical Science, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Chuanjiang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China; Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Wansheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Electronic address: bingli@mail.hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000601:surgery*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D008297:Male; D016067:Nerve Transfer; D010413:Penis / Q000294:innervation* / Q000601:surgery*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013521:Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male / Q000379:methods