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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Feb 9.
Published in final edited form as: J Sex Med. 2008 Jan 10;5(3):552–561. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00731.x

Figure 7.

Figure 7

A model of high-fat diet and chronic exercise effect on endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) function in the penis. Hypercholesterolemia associated with high-fat diet impairs endothelial function in the penis by increasing eNOS interaction with its negative protein regulator caveolin-1, inducing eNOS uncoupling, and increasing oxidative stress from uncoupled eNOS, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H) oxidase, and possibly other sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Chronic exercise training preserves endothelial function in the hypercholesterolemic penis by decreasing eNOS–caveolin-1 interaction and by preventing eNOS uncoupling. → = stimulatory effect; ⊣ = inhibitory effect.