Dataset Information

Stiffness of the Central Corpus Cavernosum on Shear-Wave Elastography Is Inversely Correlated with the Penile Rigidity Score in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To perform real-time quantitative measurements of penile rigidity for patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) using shear-wave elastography (SWE).

Materials and methods

A total of 92 patients with clinically diagnosed ED filled out an abridged five-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) questionnaire and underwent SWE as well as penile color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) after intracavernosal injection for penile erection. Elasticity measurements were repeated on two sites of the corpus cavernosum (central and peripheral elasticity of corpus cavernosum [ECC]) and the glans penis during the erection phase. Correlations between penile elasticity and rigidity scores or IIEF-5 were evaluated statistically. Penile elasticity was also compared with the ED types based on CDUS.

Results

The mean age of all patients was 53.5±13.4 years, and the mean IIEF-5 score was 9.78±5.01. The rigidity score and central ECC value demonstrated a significant correlation (r=-0.272; 95% confidence interval: -0.464 to -0.056; p=0.015). The IIEF-5 score was not significantly correlated with penile elasticity. Vascular ED patients showed significantly higher central ECC values than nonvascular ED patients (p<0.001). At a cut-off value of 8.05 kPa, the central ECC had a specificity of 41.5%, a sensitivity of 84.6%, and an area under the ROC curve of 0.720 with a standard error of 0.059 (p=0.019) for predicting vascular ED.

Conclusions

Quantitatively measuring Young's modulus of the corpus cavernosum using SWE could be an objective technique for assessing penile erectile rigidity and the vascular subtype in patients with ED.

SUBMITTER: Lee JY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7752512 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Stiffness of the Central Corpus Cavernosum on Shear-Wave Elastography Is Inversely Correlated with the Penile Rigidity Score in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction.

Lee Joo Yong JY Jung Dae Chul DC Lee Seungsoo S Kang Nam Gyu NG Oh Young Taik YT Han Kyunghwa K

The world journal of men's health 20200109 1

<h4>Purpose</h4>To perform real-time quantitative measurements of penile rigidity for patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) using shear-wave elastography (SWE).<h4>Materials and methods</h4>A total of 92 patients with clinically diagnosed ED filled out an abridged five-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) questionnaire and underwent SWE as well as penile color Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) after intracavernosal injection for penile erection. Elasticity measurements ...[more]

PMID: 32009308

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Project description:BackgroundThe mechanism of erectile dysfunction (ED) caused by a low androgen level is still not clear.AimTo explore the influence of the low testosterone state on G protein-coupled receptor kinase interactor 1 (GIT1) and its contact to erectile function.MethodsThirty male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 8 weeks were distributed at random into 5 groups: control (sham operated), castration, testosterone supplement after castration, castration + vacant lentiviral transfection, and castration + lentiviral transfection. The testis and epididymis were removed through a scrotal incision to develop castrated rats. Four weeks after castration, a lentivirus carrying the GIT1 gene was injected into the middle of rat penile corpus cavernosum. One week after transfection, maximum intracavernous pressure/mean arterial pressure (ICPmax/MAP), serum testosterone, nitric oxide, GIT1, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), phospho-eNOS (p-eNOS), p-eNOS/eNOS, and the interaction between eNOS and GIT1 were assessed in the rats.OutcomesThe levels of GIT1 in the penile cavernous tissue of castrated rats are significantly lower than that of controls.ResultsGIT1 was expressed in the cytoplasm and cell membrane of vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells in rat penile tissue. In comparison with normal rats, the castrated rats showed lower levels of GIT1 expression, GIT1 and eNOS interaction, p-eNOS/eNOS, nitric oxide, and ICPmax/MAP (P < .01). Overexpression of GIT1 can intensively enhance the expression level of GIT1, the interaction between GIT1 and eNOS, p-eNOS/eNOS, nitric oxide, and ICPmax/MAP in rats (P < .01).Clinical translationModulating the interaction between eNOS and GIT1 might be a novel method of treating ED caused by a low androgen level.Strengths and limitationsThe impact of GIT1 phosphorylation on the activity of eNOS and its possible mechanisms affecting erectile function require further study.ConclusionA low testosterone state inhibits erectile function in rats by reducing the expression of GIT1 and the protein interaction between GIT1 and eNOS.

Project description:Purpose: Molecular mechanisms of penile corpus cavernosum aging and male age-related erectile dysfunction (ED) remain unclear. Here we profiled young and old rat penile corpus cavernousm by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Methods:To map the single-cell transcriptomic landscape of penile corpus cavernosum during aging, we performed uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP), differential gene expression analysis (DGEs), pseudotime analysis and single-cell entropy algorithm to dissect cellular composition and transcriptional heterogeneity. For validation analysis, we further performed immunofluorescence studies on key molecules involved during penile corpus cavernosum aging. Results: After stringent filtering,transcriptomes of 14,879 single cells (8,557 young and 6,322 old) derived from penile corpus cavernosum of 5 young (3 months) and 5 old (23 months) rats were analyzed subsequently. Clustering analysis of cell-type specific gene expression identified 19 cell types, such as smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, fibroblasts,myofibroblasts and immune cells.Transcriptomic analyses revealed that transcriptional alterations across all cell types exhibited distinct properties rather than universally consistent. DGEs analysis demonstrated that genes related to extracellular matrix organization were highly expressed. Among these cell types, fibroblasts showed apparent heterogeneities. By performing pseudotime and single-cell entropy analysis on fibroblasts, we observed the age-associated decrease of entropy, and aged fibroblasts were found to adopt senescent secretory phenotype, as evidenced by the high expression of genes associated with the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Since eliminating senescent cells or SASP were demonstrated to improve health and life span, we further investigated the distinct senescence-related gene expression signatures across all cell types during aging. Conclusions: We plotted a cellular atlas of penile corpus cavernosum, and revealed the molecular alterations of aging cells, especially fibroblasts. Our work will deepen the understanding of the heterogeneity among certain cell types during penile corpus cavernosum aging and provide novel entry points for the age-associated ED treatment.

Project description:BackgroundAn important indicator of penile erectile function is erection hardness (EH), which is currently evaluated by the semi-quantitative erectile hardness score (EHS). EH increases continuously during the course of an erection, so although it is statistically a continuous variable, the EHS is a grade variable. We propose a new method for real-time quantitative measurement of penile EH using ultrasonic shear wave elastography (SWE).MethodsThe study group comprised 40 patients with erectile dysfunction (ED) and 20 normal controls who all underwent real-time SWE to measure tissue stiffness (Young's modulus, YM) of the penile corpus cavernosum and tunica albuginea during erection, at rest and at different EH grades induced by intracavernosal injection (ICI) of prostaglandin. The examiner gently placed the high frequency probe on the ventral penis and got the two-dimensional longitudinal US image of penis, then switched to SWE mode, the appropriate region of interest (ROI) was selected, then a 3-5 mm circle ("Q-box") was automatically set to by machine to measure the SWE of the corpus cavernosum and tunica albuginea on the left side.ResultsIn both the ED patients and normal controls, YM slightly decreased in the corpus cavernosum during erection but the stiffness of tunica albuginea increased significantly with increasing EH (resting: 21.66±4.21 kPa, grades 1-4: 32.61±4.27, 54.86±8.69, 128.02±20.66, and 223.23±23.61 kPa, respectively). Because EH grades 1 and 2 clinically predicted failure to complete sexual intercourse, and EH grades 3 and 4 predicted ability, the cutoff point for the YM of the tunica albuginea to evaluate whether sexual intercourse could be completed was 81.60 kPa.ConclusionsOur data demonstrated that tunica albuginea stiffness, not corpus cavernosum stiffness, provided a good clinical imaging index indicator for evaluating penile EH. The tunica albuginea stiffness changed continuously during penile erection, which could be measured quantitatively by SWE. Compared with the EHS, measuring the YM of the penile tunica albuginea using SWE is a new and objective technique for quantitatively assessing EH. Because of its objective and quantifiable characteristics, measuring YM enables more accurate evaluation of the effect on EH of various treatments for ED.

Dataset Information

Stiffness of the Central Corpus Cavernosum on Shear-Wave Elastography Is Inversely Correlated with the Penile Rigidity Score in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction.

Purpose

Materials and methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Stiffness of the Central Corpus Cavernosum on Shear-Wave Elastography Is Inversely Correlated with the Penile Rigidity Score in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction.

Similar Datasets

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