MITTEILUNGEN KLOSTERNEUBURG, vol.64, pp.54-70, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Aim: Aim of the study was to investigate the histopathological changes of corpus cavernosum (CC) after long-term intracavernousal injection (ICI) therapy. Methods: Adult male Wistar rats (n=30) were divided into three equal groups: as control, saline was administered to the first group; as study groups, papaverine was administered to the second group and prostaglandin, papaverine, regitine (PPR) mixture was administered to the third group. ICI therapy was done during six months and twice a week. Results: Corporeal fibrosis was evaluated with Masson's trichrom stain. A significant increase of fibrosis in the CC penis was observed in the study groups compared to the control group (p?0.05). Fibrosis was occured by long-term ICI therapy. Fibroblasts were determined using vimentin immunocytochemistry according to Metavir scor system. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of intense fibroblasts in the CC in all groups. However the means of fibroblast grades were higher in the papaverine and PPR group than the control group (p?0.05). No significance was calculated between the scores of the study groups. Conclusion: Based on our results, fibrosis occur inevitably in penile tissue during ICI treatment. Trauma of the needle is one of the reasons of the fibrosis. Vasoactive agents have an additional effect to increase the amount of fibrosis in tissue. Fibrosis scores and fibroblast density not change according to the kind of vasoactive drug. It was considered that the vasoactive drugs might also increase the amount of fibrotic tissue.