The roles of nitric oxide in sexual function of male rats
Abstract
Nitric oxide (NO) may mediate penile erection by inhibiting smooth muscle of the corpora cavernosa, thereby allowing vasodilation of the corpora. In order to test the role of NO in the sexual function of intact male rats, either the precursor of NO (L-arginine, L-Arg) or an inhibitor of its synthesis (NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, NAME) was administered systemically before tests of copulation, ex copula genital reflexes, or sexual motivation/motor activity. NAME impaired copulation in a dose dependent manner. It also decreased the number of ex copula erections, but it increased the number of ex copula seminal emissions and decreased the latency to the first seminal emission. L-Arg marginally increased the number of penile reflexes, but had no other effects. NAME had no effect on sexual motivation or motor activity. The results indicate that nitric oxide promotes erection in intact male rats, probably by mediating filling of the corpora cavernosa. The data also suggest that NO inhibits seminal emission, probably by decreasing sympathetic nervous system activity; this may help prevent premature ejaculation.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The behavior of the exposed offspring is reminiscent of male rats administered serotonin receptor agonists or agents that block nitric oxide synthesis.
“The behavior of the exposed offspring is also reminiscent of male rats that have been administered serotonin receptor agonists (Mas et al. 1985) or agents that block the synthesis of nitric oxide (Hull et al. 1994).”
From Perinatal Exposure to Low Levels of the Environmental Antiandrogen Vinclozolin Alters Sex-Differentiated Social Play and Sexual Behaviors in the Rat (2005) · cites this paper as Hull et al. 1994
Cites
Rajfer, J., Aronson, W. J., Bush, P. A., Dorey, F. J., & Ignarro, L. J. (1992) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199201093260203 · Cited by 1,006 · see citing works
A central nervous system action of nitric oxide in blood pressure regulation
Togashi, H., Sakuma, I., Yoshioka, M., Kobayashi, T., Yasuda, H., Kitabatake, A., Saito, H., Gross, S. S., & Levi, R. (1992) · The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics · doi:10.1016/s0022-3565(25)10757-x · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Colbert, N. K. W., Pelletier, N. C., Cote, J. M., Concannon, J. B., Jurdak, N. A., Minott, S. B., & Markowski, V. P. (2005) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.7509 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“The behavior of the exposed offspring is also reminiscent of male rats that have been administered serotonin receptor agonists (Mas et al. 1985) or agents that block the synthesis of nitric oxide (Hull et al. 1994).”
BackgroundMarkaverich, B. M., Crowley, J. R., Alejandro, M. A., Shoulars, K., Casajuna, N., Mani, S., Reyna, A., & Sharp, J. (2005) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp.8231 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Melis, M. R., & Argiolas, A. (2021) · Biomolecules · doi:10.3390/biom11121866 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hull, E. M., Lumley, L. A., Matuszewich, L., Dominguez, J., Moses, J., & Lorrain, D. S.
- Affiliations
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hull, E.M.
- Venue
- Neuropharmacology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1994-11
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1499-1504
- ISSN
- 0028-3908 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2084855296
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuropharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH40826, R01MH040826)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Urological Disorders and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Urinary Bladder and Prostate Research
- Keywords
- nitric oxide, male sexual function, penile erection, L-arginine, L-NAME, copulation, seminal emission, premature ejaculation, sexual motivation, sympathetic nervous system, rats
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Oxidoreductases, Animals, Arginine, Copulation, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Male, Motivation, Motor Activity, Nitric Oxide, Penis, Reflex, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Maze Learning, Nitric Oxide Synthase, NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester, Rats
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
