OGIRC

University of Western Ontario

Dept. Anatomy and Cell Biology

Dept. Physiology and Pharmacology

The purpose of our research project is to determine the effects of Panax quinquefolius on sexual health in obese Zucker rats, which display physiological characteristics of type II diabetes. Such characteristics include hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, insulin resistance, and hypertension. The end points of the experiments include erectile function, sexual arousal, sexual motivation, and sexual behaviour. An ex copula model will test for erectile dysfunction by retracting the prepuce and scoring for the number of cups and flips. Also, before sacrificing, the pudendal nerve will be electrically stimulated and the latency of tumescence, duration of tumescence, and latency of detumescence will be measured as well as intracavernosal blood pressure and systemic blood pressure. Number of mounts, intromissions, and ejaculations as well as timing to ejaculation will be scored during in copula tests for sexual behaviour. Non-contact erections will be studied by placing an estrus female in the same cage as male rats which are separated by a mesh screen. This is a recognized model for psychogenic erections in humans since pheromones from rats are believed to act similar to visual stimuli in humans. Furthermore, blood will be collected from rats prior to, during, and at the end of ginseng administration to be used for future studies. Also, after sacrifice, organs will be harvested to be used for future experiments including a test for nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in corpus cavernosal tissue.