Objective To find the relationship between the gene
expression of NOS and the effects of
Bushentongluo Formula (BF) on the
erection of penis. Methods 40 Adult rats were randomly divided into the control, castrated, BF, and testosterone propionate (TP) groups, and the testes of the rats in the last three groups were removed. BF group was given BF and TP group was given TP. Three weeks after the orchiectomy, the penis tissues of the rats in BF group and TP group were taken for detecting the
expression of NOS mRNA by using PCR. Results The expression of NOS mRNA in the rats in the castrated group was lower than that in the other three groups. The order of the groups in which the expression of NOS mRNA showed an increase was: the control group > TP group > BR group. The internally controlled amounts of NOS mRNA in the control group, TP group and BF group were larger than those in the castrated group ( P <0 05), but there was no marked difference between the internally controlled amounts of NOS mRNA in TP group and BF group ( P >0 05). Conclusion BF can exert an important role in the erection of penis through regulating the expression of NOS mRNA.