Q2. What is the likely type of blood vessel to be?
Since SMApositive blood vessels were also CD31 positive and their diameters ranged between 20 and 200 m, it is safe to assume that they are most likely to be arterioles and venules.
Q3. What type of blood vessels were observed within the capsule?
The only blood vessels that could be observed within the capsule were SMAnegative, CD31-positive, with diameters less than 20 m suggesting that they were capillaries.
Q4. What is the effect of PDE5 inhibitors on the sciatic nerve?
diabetic sciatic nerve dysfunction has been suggested to be ameliorated by PDE5 inhibitors in animal models [33] and patients [34] which has been attributed to improved blood flow.
Q5. What is the effect of PDE5 inhibitors on the vasa nervorum?
dual source of NO may make arterioles more sensitive to phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors since the smooth muscle relaxant efficiency of PDE5 inhibitors are known to be dependent on the amount of available endogenous NO [29,30].
Q6. What is the role of NO in regulating the prostate smooth muscle tone?
NO has also been suggested to be involved in micturition, by inhibiting neurotransmission in the urethra [14] as well as regulating the prostate smooth muscle tone and glandular secretory function [15].
Q7. What is the density of the arterioles around the rat MPG?
Their results suggest that the dense network of arterioles around the rat MPG has both of the NO sources: eNOS in the endothelium and nNOS in the nerve fibres.
Q8. What is the effect of PDE5 inhibitors on the blood flow in the rat sci?
Although it remains to be established whether the blood flow in the MPG will be affected by PDE5 inhibitors, the recent clinical success of PDE5 inhibitors in ameliorating the lower urinary tract symptoms as well as erectile dysfunction [35] may suggest that increased blood flow to the autonomic nerves and their ganglia by PDE5 inhibitors may be beneficial in improving the autonomic nerve function [36].
Q9. How was the circumference of each positively stained blood vessel measured?
The circumference of each positively6 stained blood vessel in three random fields of view in each slide was measured using the linear measurement tool of the LSM software.
Q10. How many blood vessels were measured in each slide?
The total visible area of CD31 positive capillaries was measured in three random fields of view in each slide using the linear measurement tool of the LSM software suite.
Q11. What is the role of the nitrergic nerves in the sciatic nerve?
Several questions remain to be answered such as where these nitrergic nerve fibres originate from and whether the nitrergic neurons can regulate their own blood flow, a phenomenon that has been observed in the brain [37].
Q12. What was the diameter of the blood vessels in the slides stained with SMA?
The number of blood vessels with diameters between 20 and 200 m was counted in slides stained with smooth muscle actin (SMA) antibody.
Q13. What is the structure of the rat MPG?
Although the neuronal cell bodies and blood flow in the rat MPG have been studied previously in healthy and diabetic rats [7,8], there has never been any structural study of the vasa nervorum of rat MPG.