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Expression and distribution of key enzymes of the cyclic GMP signaling in the human clitoris: relation to phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5)

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 23, pages 206–212 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

The clitoris contributes to the normal female sexual response cycle. A significance of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) has been assumed in the control of clitoral vascular smooth muscle. As only a few investigations on the physiology of the vascular and non-vascular clitoral tissue have been carried out, knowledge on the mechanisms controlling this particular female genital organ is still vague. It has been suggested that human clitoral corpus cavernosum smooth muscle is regulated by nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP and related key enzymes, such as NO synthases (NOSs) and the phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). The present study evaluated in the human clitoris, by means of immunohistochemistry, the expression and distribution of key enzymes of the cyclic GMP pathway, such as the endothelial NOS, PDE2, PDE11 and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase type I (cGKI) in relation to the PDE5. Immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of PDE2, PDE5 and cGKI in the smooth muscle wall of blood vessels transversing the supepithelial and stromal space. Immunosignals specific for PDE2 were also identified in interstitial-like cells located in the basal epithelial layer. Staining for PDE11A was observed in single nerve trunks located in the clitoral stroma. The results are in favor of a role of the cyclic GMP signaling in the control of clitoral blood flow. It seems likely that PDE2 and PDE11 are also involved in the mechanism of local (neuro)transmission in the clitoris.

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Acknowledgements

To Mrs Nicola Jane Hitchcock-van Dornick, Hannover, Germany, for editing the linguistic style of the manuscript. This study was supported by the Institutional Funding Program Excellence in Research of the Board of the Hannover Medical School.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Surgery, Department of Urology & Urological Oncology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

    S Ückert, M Oelke, K Albrecht & M A Kuczyk

  2. Department of Legal & Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Johannes-Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany

    D Breitmeier

  3. University Vita Salute San Raffaele, Faculty of Medicine, Urological Research Institute (URI), Milan, Italy

    P Hedlund

  4. Department of Clinical & Experimental Pharmacology, Institute for Laboratory Medicine, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    P Hedlund

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  1. S Ückert
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Correspondence to S Ückert.

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Ückert, S., Oelke, M., Albrecht, K. et al. Expression and distribution of key enzymes of the cyclic GMP signaling in the human clitoris: relation to phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). Int J Impot Res 23, 206–212 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2011.29

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