Physiological significance of nitrergic transmission in human penile erection

Aim: Epididymal proteins are known to play an important role in the maturation of spermatozoa, we ought to deter-mine if there are regional differences in androgen-dependent epididymal proteins. Methods: A group of adult rats wascastrated and epididymides were removed three days following castration. The epididymides were dissected into caput,corpus and cauda segments, homogenized, and proteins were fractionated by anion exchange HPLC. Proteins in select-ed fractions were resolved by SDS-PAGE and visualized by silver staining. Results: It was observed that the levels ofmultiple proteins drastically reduced in the various regions of epididymis of the orchiectomized rats. Conclusion: Theepididymal proteins appear to be useful markers to study androgenic action in the epididymis.