[Concentration of basic fibroblast growth factor in plasma and cavernous corpus of aged rat].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the concentration of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in aged rat plasma and penile tissues.


METHODS
Twelve 24-month-old rats and ten 12-week-old rats were selected. We assessed the erectile responses of rats to cavernous nerve electrostimulation. Then the concentrations of bFGF in the rats' plasma and penile tissues were detected by ELISA kit and smooth muscle contents in the rats' cavernous corpus were evaluated by masson trichrome staining.


RESULTS
Compared with the young rats, we found that the erectile function of the aged rats were significantly attenuated (The Max ICP/MAP in the aged rats were 0.41±0.05, 0.44±0.04 and 0.51±0.06 at 2.5 volts, 5.0 volts and 7.5 volts respectively while the Max ICP/MAP in the normal controls were 0.70±0.06, 0.75±0.07 and 0.81±0.04 at 2.5 volts, 5 volts and 7.5 volts respectively, P<0.05). The concentrations of bFGF [The bFGF levels in plasma and penile tissues in the aged rat were (6.43±0.51) μg/L and (598.6±51.7) pg/mg protein respectively while the bFGF levels in the normal control were (10.53±0.42) μg/L and (985.8±76.8) pg/mg protein] were significantly reduced (P<0.05). Furthermore, the smooth muscle contents in the aged rats' penile tissues (0.038±0.005) were dramatically decreased compared with the normal control (0.075±0.006, P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The reduced levels of bFGF may be related to the decreased smooth muscle contents in the penile tissues of the aged rats.
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Jun
J
Yang
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Tao
T
Wang
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Yan
Y
Zhang
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Hua
H
Xu
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Shao-gang
SG
Wang
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Ji-hong
JH
Liu
Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Zhang-qun
ZQ
Ye
D000818:Animals; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010410:Penile Erection; D010413:Penis / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2