In this study, we investigated the effects of a combination of Ginkgo biloba extracts (GBE) and phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors on the muscular tone of the corpus cavernosum and potassium channel activity of corporal smooth muscle cells. Strips of corpus cavernosum from male New Zealand white rabbits were mounted in organ baths for isometric tension studies. After contraction with 1×10?? mol l?1 norepinephrine, GBE (0.01-1 mg ml?1) and mirodenafil (0.01-100 nmol l?1) were added together into the organ bath. In electrophysiological studies, whole-cell currents were recorded by the conventional patch-clamp technique in cultured smooth muscle cells of the human corpus cavernosum. The corpus cavernosum was relaxed in response to GBE in a dose-dependent manner (from 0.64%±8.35% at 0.01 mg ml?1 to 52.28% ± 11.42% at 1 mg ml?1). After pre-treatment with 0.03 mg ml?1 of GBE, the relaxant effects of mirodenafil were increased at all concentrations. After tetraethylammonium (TEA) (1 mmol l?1) administration, the increased effects were inhibited (P<0.01). Extracellular administration of GBE increased the whole-cell K(+) outward currents in a dose-dependent fashion. The increase of the outward current was inhibited by 1 mmol l?1 TEA. These results suggest that GBE could increase the relaxant potency of mirodenafil even at a minimally effective dose. The K(+) flow through potassium channels might be one of the mechanisms involved in this synergistic relaxation.

Keywords: calcium-activated potassium channels; erectile dysfunction; Ginkgo biloba; phosphodiesterase inhibitors; smooth muscles

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