The role of testosterone application in treatment on the base of ischemic priapism

Priapism is described as the extended unpreferred erection status without any sexual stimulus. There are three types of priapism which are classified as ischemic, non ischemic and recurrent priapism depending on the blood flow of the penile artery. Ischemic priapism is a real urological emergency which require urgent and appropriate approach. In order to prevent any erectile dysfunction, the urologist should know how to manage such an urgent case. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the early therapeutic alternatives such the role of testosterone application in treatment on the base of ischemic priapism in the rat models. The study included 8 groups consisting of 6 rats where the first is the control and the other 7 groups were the study groups. Fourty-eight adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 8 equal groups. Group 1 was the control (shame) group. Penises of the rats in the Group 1 were resected after 4 hours without generating priapism. In Group 2 priapism was generated and penile resection was performed after 4 hours. In Group 3 priapism was generated and testosterone in physiological dose was administrated and penile resection was performed after 4 hours. In Group 4 priapism was obtained, testosterone in supraphysiologic dose was administered and penises were resected after 4 hours. In Group 5 priapism was obtained, testosterone in physiologic dose was administered, priapism was corrected in the fourth hour and penile resection was performed after 8 hours. In Group 6 priapism was obtained, testosterone in supraphysiologic dose was administered, priapism was corrected in the fourth hour and penile resection was performed after 8 hours. . In Group 7 priapism was obtained, priapism was corrected in the fourth hour testosterone in physiologic dose was administered, and penile resection was performed after 8 hours. In Group 8 priapism was obtained priapism was corrected in the fourth hour, testosterone in supraphysiologic dose was administered and penile resection was performed after 8 hours. Vacuum constriction method was used in all rats for obtaining erection and priapism was generated by maintaining it. Apopitosis index was evaluated by using the Tunel method in the cavernous tissue samples of all groups. In this study it is detected that testosterone administration in the early phase of priapism is reducing the apoptotic index statistically significantly when compared to the control group. Preventing of apopitosis occuring during priapism with testosterone is promising a future in the protection of the erectile function. Key Words: Priapism, apoptosis, testosterone.