Figures & data
Figure 1. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of penile tissue from young rat (1) and human (2). Cavernous tissue has a sponge-like structure, with cavernous vascular spaces (VS) lined by endothelium (arrow) and separated by trabeculae composed mainly of connective tissue (CT), while smooth muscle fibers (SM) in the rat are restricted to endothelium periphery, in the human tissue organize in long contractile fibers distributed within trabeculae.
Figure 2. Schematic presentation of the synthesis of AGEs.
Figure 3. Schematic presentation of the nutritional and therapeutic interventions on the formation of AGEs and ED onset. ACEI, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; ARB, angiotensin II receptor-1 blocker; cGMP, cyclic guanosine monophosphate; ER, energy restriction; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; NADPH, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate; NO, nitric oxide; PDE5, phosphodiesterase-5; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SMC, smooth muscle cells.
