Apoptosis of corpus cavernosum in patients with organic erectile dysfunction

Objectives  It has been reported that apoptosis of penile erectile tissue occurs after penile denervation, castration, and diabetes mellitus in animal studies. Aim of this study was to investigate apoptosis in corpora cavernosa of patients with organic erectile dysfunction (ED). Methods  Cavernous biopsies were obtained from 38 patients with erectile dysfunction and 10 patients with normal erectile function. Apoptosis of tissues were determined via terminal deoxyuridine nucleotide end labeling method by using flow cytometry. Results  The mean ages of patients with ED and control patients were 50.65 ± 2.27, and 32.43 ± 2.90 years, respectively (P = 0.0001). Patients with ED were set in two groups as more than 50 years old and less than 50 years old for further analysis of age factor on apoptosis. The mean % apoptosis of ED patients was 26.22 ± 2.79 and control group was 11.26 ± 3.79, (P = 0.032). Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values were also 17.41 ± 3.21 and 6.59 ± 2.28, respectively (P = 0.039). MFI and % apoptosis values were not statistically significant different neither between the patients groups nor between the control and patients ≤50 years old (P > 0.05). Conclusions  We did not find any statistically significant difference with respect to apoptosis rates when we compared neither control group with ≤50 years old patients nor patients groups of ED. Because of this we did not have enough data to say that apoptosis has a prominent role on the development of ED independently from other factors. However, further studies are necessary to clarify the role of apoptosis in erectile dysfunction.