Although calcium-activated chloride channel (CaCC) blockers, niflumic acid (NFA) and anthracene-9-carboxylic acid (A9C), have been shown as potential erectogenic agents in healthy corpus cavernosum (CC) tissues, the pharmacological characteristics of CaCC blockers in diabetic state are relatively unknown. This study compares the direct muscle relaxant property of NFA and A9C with their influence on contraction and nitrergic relaxation as elicited by electrical field stimulation in normal and 16-week-old diabetic rabbit CC (n=8). Mean blood glucose level in alloxan-treated rabbits was elevated threefold (21.9±0.5 mmol  l(-1) vs 7.1±0.2 mmol l(-1) in untreated rabbits; P<0.05). There was no significant alteration in the efficacies of NFA and A9C in eliciting a concentration-dependent relaxation of noradrenaline-induced cavernosum tone and in inhibiting neurogenic contraction of CC from diabetic rabbits. The capability of NFA (100 μM) and A9C (1 mM) in augmenting nitrergic transmission was also not adversely affected by diabetes. However, in CC from diabetic rabbits, A9C markedly increased nitrergic relaxation response to 1-10 Hz by 10.6-36.6% (vs -5.1-0.8% in nondiabetic control). CaCC sensitivity to A9C appears to be enhanced in diabetic CC tissue. Inhibiting the CaCC activity in diabetes-related ED may tip the balance between proerectile/relaxant and antierectile/contractile mechanisms in favor of cavernosum relaxation.

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Objective: Positive psychology interventions have been shown to be effective in improving psychological and physical wellbeing in general populations and patients with chronic pain. The goal of the current exploratory cross-sectional study is to identify psychological strengths that can be targeted in patient with osteoarthritis (OA) for subsequent development of positive psychology interventions.Methods: A consecutive 156 OA patients referred to a joint re- placement center participated in this study. They complete a questionnaire measuring their psychological strengths and emo- tional experience. Radiographs of knee were taken and physical examination of the knee were performed and also quantified with Knee Society Score and Oxford Knee Score.Results: Correlational analysis revealed that humour, a psycho- logical strength, is significantly correlated with both psychological (increased positive emotional experience) and medical (decreased perceived pain intensity) out- comes. In subsequent hierarchical regression analyses, we found that humour has significant incremental predictability even after controlling for the disease severity (radiographic Kellgren-Law- rence grading, range of movement, alignment, and knee scores), emotional experience, and demographical measurements .Conclusion: Our results are the first to show that people with high- er humour have less pain intensity, independent of clinical and radiological severity of knee osteoarthritis. This study suggests that humor could be a potential therapeutic target for chronic pain associated with knee osteoarthritis and further studies to investigate its biological pathway (like change in endorphins level) and using positive psychology interventions to cultivate humor in OA patients for pain relief are warranted.

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