Effect of Wubi Shanyao Pills on sexual dysfunction in rats with adenine-induced kidney-Yang deficiency / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper was to study the effect of Wubi Shanyao Pills on sexual dysfunction in rats with kidney-Yang deficiency and to investigate its possible mechanism. Adenine(100 mg·kg~(-1)) was administered to male SD rats for 8 weeks to establish kidney-Yang deficiency model, and at the same time, Wubi Shanyao Pills(2, 1, 0.5 g·kg~(-1)) were administered to rats for 8 weeks. The syndrome manifestation of kidney-Yang deficiency was observed in rats and the scores of symptoms were evaluated. Sexual behavior indexes(incubation period and times of capture, straddle and ejaculation) were measured by mating experiment. The levels of serum testosterone(T), estradiol(E_2), follicle stimulating hormone(FSH), luteinizing hormone(LH), and gonadotropin releasing hormone(GnRH) were measured by radioimmunoassay. The wet weights of testis and seminal vesicle were measured. The content of fructose in seminal plasma was detected by UV spectrophotometry. The pathological changes of testis and epididymis were observed by HE staining. The expression levels of transforming growth factor(TGF-β1) and cytochrome P450 aromatase(CYP19) in testis were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The results showed that Wubi Shanyao Pills could significantly reduce the score of kidney-Yang deficiency syndrome, improve the symptoms of kidney-Yang deficiency syndrome, shorten capture, straddle and ejaculation latency, increase capture and straddle times, increase serum T, LH, FSH, E_2 and GnRH levels, increase the wet weight of testis and seminal vesicle and fructose content in seminal plasma, improve the pathological structure of testis and epididymis, and inhibit the expression of TGF-β1 and increase CYP19 in testis of the model rats. Therefore, Wubi Shanyao Pills can significantly improve sexual dysfunction in rats with kidney-Yang deficiency, and its mechanism may be related to regulating the low function of hypothalamus pituitary gonad(HPG) axis and improving the disorder of sex hormone secretion. In addition, it may be also related to inhibiting the expression of testicular TGF-β1, increasing the expression of CYP19 protein, and then regulating the amount of T converted to E_2.