Gamma Irradiation Induced Erectile Dysfunction in Cellular System of Rats: Protective and Ameliorative Roles of Adansonia digitata and Corchorous olitorius Leaves Based Diet

Abstract

Gamma irradiations exacerbate reactive oxygen (RO) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) generation in cellular system of rats. ROS/RNS increased nuclear factor kappa-B (Nf-kB) level, such that, it has been implicated in increased phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) activities. An increased PDE-5 activities have been implicated in erectile dysfunction. Several PDE-5 inhibitors have been in use, but have come with deleterious side effects, hence, there is need to have safe and natural PDE-5 inhibitors. Hence, this study investigated the protective and ameliorative effects of A. digitata and C. olitorius leaves based-diet on gamma irradiation-induced erectile dysfunction. A total of 48 Wistar rats (190±10g) were grouped into 8 groups of 6. Except for group I, all other groups were exposed to 6 grey gamma irradiation; Groups I and II were fed with leaves-free formulated diet and water only, groups III, IV and V were fed with leaves-based-diet of A.digitata, C. olitorius and combination before they were exposed to irradiation, whereas groups VI, VII and VIII were exposed to irradiation before they were fed with the leaves-based-diet respectively. The rats were sacrificed, tissues and blood were collected for PDE-5 and Nf-kB assays. Radiation significantly (p<0.05) increased the activities of PDE-5 and Nf-kB concentration in rats. Administration of the A. digitata and C. olitorius leaves based-diet significantly (p<0.05) reduced PDE-5 activities and Nf-kB concentration when compared with the irradiation control group. It can be concluded that leaves of A.digitata and C.olitorius may be used against erectile dysfunction.