{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T21:20:41Z","timestamp":1783113641900,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783036800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"funder":[{"name":"NIH\/NIDDK","award":["DK101536"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DK101536"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Erectile dysfunction (ED) has significant impact on patient quality of life. Cavernous nerve (CN) injury is a major underlying cause of ED in prostatectomy and diabetic patients, which results in corpora cavernosa remodeling. Examination of how penile remodeling takes place after CN injury is dependent on comparison to normal control penis tissue. A previous study from our laboratory suggested that regional differences in smooth muscle abundance may occur along the proximal to distal axis of the penis. This suggests the importance of comparing parallel regions of the normal and injured\/diseased penis when quantifying changes in smooth muscle and collagen.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Aim<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To perform a detailed, quantitative analysis of penile morphology in proximal and distal regions of the normal rat penis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Adult (P115-120) Sprague Dawley rats (n\u2009=\u200930) were obtained from Charles River. Dissection occurred by dividing the intact penis into 4 equal segments from proximal to distal (method 1), or isolated corpora cavernosa were dissected from proximal and distal regions (method 2). CN injured rats (n\u2009=\u20096) were sacrificed after 2 and 4\u00a0days (method 1).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Outcomes<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Localization and quantification of smooth muscle (\u03b1-ACTIN), endothelium (CD31), collagen, fibroblasts (P4HB), proliferation (Ki67), and apoptosis (caspase 3 cleaved) were performed by trichrome stain, immunohistochemistry, hydroxyproline, and western.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Trichrome showed more smooth muscle in the proximal penis of uninjured and CN injured rats. Western showed 26.1% higher smooth muscle (P\u2009=\u2009.042) and 33.4% higher endothelium (P\u00a0=\u2009.010) in the proximal corpora cavernosa. No difference in fibroblast localization or abundance was observed (P\u00a0=\u2009.403). Collagen I and IV appeared more abundant in the proximal region; a hydroxyproline assay verified 13.8% higher collagen in the proximal region (P\u00a0=\u2009.008). No regional differences in proliferation were observed in normal (P\u00a0=\u2009.424) and CN-injured (4\u00a0day, P\u00a0=\u2009.149) penises; however, proliferation was 10.16% higher in proximal penis 2\u00a0days after CN injury (P\u00a0=\u2009.037). No regional differences in caspase 3 cleaved were observed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Clinical implications<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>It is imperative that parallel regions of the penis be examined in ED studies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Strengths and limitations<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Comparative morphological analysis was not performed on the penis of patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Smooth muscle, endothelium, and collagen were more abundant in the proximal region of the rat penis, while fibroblasts were more evenly distributed; this finding has far-reaching implications for research in animal models; when studying changes in penile morphology that occur with ED, careful attention must be paid to the region of the penis along the proximal to distal axis that is being compared.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/jsxmed\/qdag201","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T11:47:29Z","timestamp":1781092049000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Regional differences in corpora cavernosa morphology exist along the proximal to distal axis of the penis in adult Sprague Dawley rats"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Jiangping","family":"Deng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, IL 60612 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel A","family":"Harrington","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences, UTHealth, The University of Texas Health Science Center 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