Effect of Bushentongluoshugan Formula on gene expression of TGF-β of penile tissue in castrated rats

Objective To investigate the mechanism of Bushentongluoshugan Formula's effect in penile erection.Method All 40 adult male rats were randomly divided into the control group,castrated group, Bushentongluoshugan Formula group and sterandryl group.The rats of all groups,except the control group, were ablated bilateral testes.Bushentongluoshugan Formula group and sterandryl group were given the formula and sterandryl respectively.After 3 weeks the penile tissue was collected and the expression of transforming growth factor-β-mRNA(TGF-β-mRNA) was detected by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.Result The expression of TGF-β-mRNA in the castrated group was higher than that in other three groups,and among them the incremental order was the control group,sterandryl group and Bushentongluoshugan Formula group according to the decreasing performance of TGF-β-mRNA expression. The internal control of TGF-β-mRNA was less in the control group,sterandryl group and Bushentongluoshugan Formula group with a significant difference compared with that in the castrated group (P0.01),and there was no significant difference between the sterandryl group and Bushentongluoshugan Formula group(P0.05).Conclusion Bushentongluoshugan Formula plays an important role in penile erection through regulating the expression of TGF-β-mRNA.