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3066068 
Journal Article 
N-acetylcysteine Ameliorates the Erectile Dysfunction Caused by Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia in Rats: Partly Involvement of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress 
Zhu, Die; Deng, Yan; Pan, Y; Wang, Z; Yuan, X; Guo, X; Wang, Yu; Liu, H 
2015 
1 
Urology
ISSN: 0090-4295
EISSN: 1527-9995 
86 
4 
844.e7-844.e14 
English 
26206453 
WOS:000366464300051 
OBJECTIVE: To conduct a study using a rodent model of chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) to define whether endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is involved in the CIH-induced apoptosis of penile tissue and erectile dysfunction (ED), and whether treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) alleviates pathological variations in corpus cavernosa. Previous work has prompted that CIH acted as the major trigger linking obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and ED.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five-month-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were subjected to 8 hours of intermittent hypoxia per day, with or without NAC for 5 weeks. Erectile function, apoptosis of penile tissue, levels of ERS-associated proapoptotic effectors, and nitric oxide (NO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity were determined.

RESULTS: Treatment with NAC inhibited apoptosis of penile tissue, the expressions of ERS-related products: BIP, CHOP, caspase12, and Bax, NO, and endothelial NOS. Administration of NAC before CIH significantly improved the CIH-induced impaired erectile function.

CONCLUSION: Our results show that pre-CIH NAC administration ameliorates the ED following CIH partly by alleviating CIH-induced ERS and cell apoptosis via regulating the expressions of BIP, CHOP, caspase12, and Bax.