J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2023 Nov;33(11):1217-1222. doi: 10.29271/jcpsp.2023.11.1217.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-fibrotic effects of pirfenidone on Peyronie’s disease in an experimental rat model with intracavernosal injection of TGF-β and whether pirfenidone improves erectile function.
STUDY DESIGN: Experimental study. Place and Duration of the Study: Faculty of Medical Experimental Animals and Research Laboratory, Trakya University, from January to March 2021.
METHODOLOGY: In this study, 27 male Sprague Dawley rats were used, and three groups were randomly identified. The rats in Group 1 served as the control group. Group 2 was not treated, and Group 3 was treated with pirfenidone therapy. The rats in Group 3 were administered pirfenidone 30 mg/kg/day by oral gavage, every day for four weeks, three weeks after the start of the experiment. At the end of seven weeks, a haemodynamic study was performed with cavernosal nerve stimulation to evaluate the erectile function, the rats were sacrificed, and the penile tissues were evaluated immunohistochemically.
RESULTS: MeICP/MIBP values were found to be higher in treated rats compared to rats in the untreated group but no statistically significant difference was found in MeICP/MIBP values between the control, Peyronie model, and treatment groups (p=0.25). According to the histopathological examination, the rate of fibrosis with H&E staining was mild (100%) in the control group, severe (100%) in the Peyronie group, and severe (87.5% severe and 12.5% moderate) in the Peyronie + treatment group.
CONCLUSION: In the study, pirfenidone used in the treatment of Peyronie’s disease had a positive effect on erectile function, though not considered statistically significant. It has been shown that it has no histopathological effect on Peyronie’s plaques.
KEY WORDS: Anti-fibrotic agent, Erectile function, Experimental study, Peyronie’s disease, Pirfenidone.
PMID:37926870 | DOI:10.29271/jcpsp.2023.11.1217
