Abstract Studies have shown the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of alpha-linolenic acid, one of the omega 3 fatty acids found abundantly in linseed oil. Cigarette smoke causes impotence as it contains many harmful components and increases oxidative stress. Therefore, we planned to investigate whether or not alpha-linolenic acid has protective effect against impotence due to cigarette smoke exposure. For this purpose mice were given cigarette smoke and 200 mg / kg alpha-linolenic acid gavage for 8 weeks And phospholipase A2, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) enzymes in corpus cavernosum tissues were analyzed by ELISA. Application of cigarette smoke to the mice reduced the enzyme eNOS while boosting corpus cavernosum cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), phospholipase A2 and iNOS. Administration of alpha-linolenic acid to mice exposed to cigarette smoke refused the increase in COX-2, phospholipase A2 and iNOS enzymes and caused an increase in eNOS enzyme. In conclusion, our study has shown that smoking is the cause of impotence due to the increase of inflammatory mediators and the reduction of eNOS enzyme responsible for erection, and that the use of alpha-linolenic acid with smoking is beneficial against these effects.
Keywords cigarette smoke, corpus cavernosum, alpha-linolenic acid, cyclooxygenase-2, phospholipase A2, iNOS and eNOS.