Pakpahan C, Ibrahim R, William W, Faizah Z, Juniastuti J, Lusida MI, Oceandy D. Stem cell therapy and diabetic erectile dysfunction: A critical review. World J Stem Cells 2021; 13(10): 1549-1563 [PMID: 34786157 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i10.1549]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Delvac Oceandy, MD, PhD, Reader (Associate Professor), Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Street Address, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom. delvac.oceandy@manchester.ac.uk
Research Domain of This Article
Andrology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Stem Cells. Oct 26, 2021; 13(10): 1549-1563 Published online Oct 26, 2021. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i10.1549
Stem cell therapy and diabetic erectile dysfunction: A critical review
Cennikon Pakpahan, Raditya Ibrahim, William William, Zakiyatul Faizah, Juniastuti Juniastuti, Maria I Lusida, Delvac Oceandy
Cennikon Pakpahan, Zakiyatul Faizah, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60132, Indonesia
Cennikon Pakpahan, Raditya Ibrahim, William William, Andrology Program, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60132, Indonesia
William William, Department of Medical Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta 14440, Indonesia
Juniastuti Juniastuti, Institute of Tropical Disease, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60132, Indonesia
Maria I Lusida, Institute for Tropical Disease, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60132, Indonesia
Delvac Oceandy, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Pakpahan C, Ibrahim R and William W performed literature search and review, and wrote the manuscript; Faizah Z, Juniastuti J and Lusida MI reviewed the manuscript; Oceandy D supervised the literature review and edited manuscript.
Supported byMandate Research Grant from Universitas Airlangga, No. 1408/UN3/2019.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Delvac Oceandy, MD, PhD, Reader (Associate Professor), Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Street Address, Manchester M13 9PT, United Kingdom. delvac.oceandy@manchester.ac.uk
Received: March 1, 2021 Peer-review started: March 1, 2021 First decision: April 19, 2021 Revised: May 4, 2021 Accepted: September 22, 2021 Article in press: September 22, 2021 Published online: October 26, 2021 Processing time: 238 Days and 18.6 Hours
Abstract
Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been identified as one of the most frequent chronic complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). The prevalence of ED is estimated to be about 67.4% in all DM cases worldwide. The pathophysiological process leading to ED involves endothelial, neurological, hormonal, and psychological factors. In DM, endothelial and neurological factors play a crucial role. Damages in the blood vessels and erectile tissue due to insulin resistance are the hallmark of ED in DM. The current treatments for ED include phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors and penile prosthesis surgery. However, these treatments are limited in terms of just relieving the symptoms, but not resolving the cause of the problem. The use of stem cells for treating ED is currently being studied mostly in experimental animals. The stem cells used are derived from adipose tissue, bone, or human urine. Most of the studies observed an improvement in erectile quality in the experimental animals as well as an improvement in erectile tissue. However, research on stem cell therapy for ED in humans remains to be limited. Nevertheless, significant findings from studies using animal models indicate a potential use of stem cells in the treatment of ED.
Core Tip: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the most frequent complications of diabetes mellitus in males, which interferes with the patient's quality of life. Current available treatments, whilst improve the symptoms, are not able to repair damages of the affected tissues. Stem cells have the potential ability to renew and repair damaged endothelial cells and penile tissue in the diabetic ED. Recent studies have provided promising results on the use of stem cells to treat this condition. This article reviews current advances on this area of research.
