Study of neuropeptide Y-containing nerve fibers in the human penis.

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Neuropeptide Y 1-36 (IR-NPY) immunoreactive nerve-fiber processes have been observed in tunicae of veins and arteries and in smooth muscles of the human penis taken at autopsy or during surgery by use of light- and electron-microscopic immunohistochemical techniques. Numerous IR-NPY nerve fibers were mostly concentrated in the inner part of the adventitia close to the media of the arterial and venous vessels and among the intracavernous smooth muscle cells. IR-NPY nerve fibers were less abundant in veins than in arteries. Positive somata were not observed in the penises. At the ultrastructural level, IR-NPY were localized exclusively in large, dense granules of nerve terminals by means of the postembedding immunogold technique. In the deep dorsal vein, IR-NPY nerve fibers were also located in the media formed by an outer circular and an inner longitudinal layer. In the intracavernous and dorsal arteries, they showed the highest density in the inner part of the adventitia. In the corpora cavernosa and in the corpus spongiosum, IR-NPY nerve processes were intermingled between the smooth-muscle fibers around the sinusoid spaces. IR-NPY nerve fibers were present in the cavernous nerves close to the central arteries. The urethra did not show any IR-NPY-positive nerve fibers. This peculiar distribution of IR-NPY nerve fibers suggested that they could participate in regulating arterial and venous blood flow and intracavernous smooth-muscle tone. NPY may therefore be of importance in some of the mechanisms of penile erection especially during detumescence.