Is there a role for stem cell therapy in erectile dysfunction secondary to cavernous nerve injury? Network meta-analysis from animal studies and human trials

INTRODUCTION: We carried out systematic review and network meta-analysis to investigate the role of stem cell therapy (SCT) in the management of erectile dysfunction (ED) secondary to cavernous nerve injury in rats and post-radical prostatectomy (RP) in humans. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The protocol was registered with PROSPERO database. We searched studies analyzing the efficacy of SCT for ED due to bilateral cavernous nerve injury (BCNI) in rats using Healthcare Databases Advanced Search (HDAS) Export software (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus) from inception to September 2020. The outcome measurements, for 29 animal studies, were intracavernosal pressure (ICP), ICP/MAP (mean arterial pressure) ratio, and histological/molecular changes. All three available human trials evaluating SCT in post-RP ED were assessed for International Index for Erectile Function (IIEF) Score and Erection Hardness Score (EHS). RESULTS: For ICP measurement, animal studies were divided into adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) subgroup and bone marrow–derived stem cells (BMSCs) subgroup. Pooled analysis of these studies showed a beneficial effect of SCT in improving erectile function in rats with BCNI using network meta-analysis (95% confidence interval, CI; p < 0.001). There was an increase in ICP/MAP ratio in stem cell groups (including co-intervention) compared with control BCNI group. Histological and molecular evaluation of penile tissue revealed an increase in neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), smooth muscle content, and anti-apoptotic activity. Human trials revealed improved IIEF (70–150% from baseline at 6 months) and EHS (80–200% from baseline). CONCLUSION: Our results confirm that SCT does improve the erectile function in rats having cavernous nerve injury. Similarly, early human results have shown promising results. PROSPERO REGISTRATION ID: CRD42020201343.