Simvastatin alleviated diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction in rats by enhancing AMPK pathway-induced autophagy.

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction is a common diabetic complication, and new therapeutics and the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction need to be investigated. The aim was to investigate the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction and the pharmacological mechanism of simvastatin treatment in diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction model rats. A total of 86 male Sprague Dawley rats aged 8weeks old were used in this study. The rats were divided into three groups: control (normal), diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction (streptozotocin-injected), and diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction+simvastatin (sim). Each group was subdivided into two subgroups for in vitro and in vivo analyses. A bioinformatics method was used to detect differences in gene expression in the corpus cavernosum between normal and diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction rats. Erectile function was measured by a cavernous nerve electrostimulation test. Corpus cavernosum fibrosis was assessed by Masson staining and Western blotting. Immunofluorescence and Western blotting were performed to explore the differential expression of autophagy-related genes and the AMPK-SKP2-CARM1 pathway genes in rat cavernous smooth muscle cells and the corpus cavernosum. The autophagosomes of the corpus cavernosum tissue were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Autophagy-related genes and pathways (the AMPK and FoxO pathway) were identified by bioinformatics analysis and confirmed at the protein level. Simvastatin, an AMPK agonist, was used to treat diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction rats for 8weeks, demonstrating that erectile function was improved for 80.5% (P<.05) of rats. Corpus cavernosum fibrosis was alleviated (P<.05), and autophagy was further enhanced (P<.05); these results might be partially caused by AMPK-SKP2-CARM1 pathway activation (P<.05). Simvastatin could enhance protective autophagy by activating the AMPK-SKP2-CARM1 pathway to improve erectile function in diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction rats.