Stereological analysis of elastic fibers of the corpus cavernosum of rats during the aging process

Hota, Thiago; Lorenzini, Fernando; Melchioretto, Eduardo Felippe; Zeni, Marcelo; Veronez, Djanira Aparecida da Luz; Fraga, R.

doi:10.1590/s0102-865020190080000003

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…20 21 This aging process applies to the penile CC and results in a decline in erectile function. 8 9 10 SWE is a noninvasive method to measure differences in tissue structure, and it is widely used in the differential diagnosis of breast, 22 prostate, 23 and liver 24 diseases. In the current study, we used SWE to evaluate the tissue structure of the CC.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our research confirmed that the CCYM increased with age, and this change was accompanied by a decline in erectile function. It is known that the tissue components of the CC undergo physiological aging, which includes a decrease in smooth muscle mass, a reduction in the expression of elastic fibers, and an increase in collagen content, 8 9 10 25 and these structural changes lead to a decline in erectile function. Because the stiffness of collagen on SWE is higher than that of smooth muscle, 14 15 the increase in collagen content and decrease in smooth muscle content with age might explain the increased CCYM.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aging of the CCs will theoretically cause a decline in erectile function. 8 9 10 However, there are limited studies on the aging process of the CCs, probably due to the difficulty of obtaining study materials and the lack of standard criteria to evaluate the degree of aging of the CCs. Thus, a noninvasive and objective method to assess the degree of CC aging is required.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Quantitative assessment of the aging corpus cavernosum by shear wave elastography

Ruan¹,

Yang²,

Cheng³

et al. 2022

Asian Journal of Andrology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We wanted to determine whether shear wave elastography (SWE) could be used to evaluate the aging degree of the corpus cavernosum (CC) and to identify the histological basis of changes in SWE measurements during the aging process. We performed a cross-sectional study enrolling healthy participants of different ages. We measured the Young’s modulus (YM) of the penile CCs by SWE and assessed erectile function using the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5). Histological investigation was performed in surgically resected penile specimens from a separate group of patients to examine the smooth muscle and collagen content of the CCs. Furthermore, we measured the YM, erectile function, smooth muscle, and collagen content of the CCs in different age groups of rats. Finally, we enrolled 210 male volunteers in this study. The YM of the CC (CCYM) was positively correlated with age ( r = 0.949, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with erectile function ( r = −0.843, P < 0.01). Histological examinations showed that CCs had increased collagen content but decreased smooth muscle content with increased age. The same positive correlation between CCYM and age was also observed in the animal study. In addition, the animal study showed that older rats, with increased CCYM and decreased erectile function, had lower smooth muscle content and higher collagen content. SWE can noninvasively and quantitatively evaluate the aging degree of the CC. Increased collagen content and decreased smooth muscle content might be the histological basis for the effect of aging on the CC and the increase in its YM.

show abstract