Protective effect of annexin‐A1 against irreversible damage to cavernous tissue after cavernous nerve injury in the rat

Study Type – Aetiology (case control) Level of Evidence 3b What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Penile rehabilitation is still controversial regarding good results. Our study shows a non‐invasive treatment option to recovery after cavernous nervous damage. The assessment of changes in the intracavernous pressure and karyometry demonstrates the protective effect of annexin‐A1 in an animal model of cavernous nerve injury. We found that annexin‐A1 effectively preserved erectile function, evidently through significantly protecting the corpus cavernosum tissue against fibrosis. OBJECTIVE • To evaluate the protective effect of annexin‐A1 against irreversible damage to cavernous tissue after cavernous nerve injury. PATIENTS AND METHODS • Thirty Sprague‐Dawley male rats were divided into 3 groups; sham‐operated rats (n= 10), bilateral cavernous nerve injury treated intravenously with 100 µg/kg annexin‐A1 (n= 10), and a crush group of rats submitted to bilateral cavernous nerve injury and vehicle (n= 10). Groups were compared in respect to intracavernous pressure and karyometric parameters. RESULTS • After annexin‐A1 treatment, the maximum changes in intracavernous pressure responses were significantly higher in the annexin‐A1 group compared to the vehicle‐only group on the 7th postoperative day (p‐value