The Blood Testis Barrier and Male Sexual Dysfunction following Spinal Cord Injury
Abstract
Nearly 70% of males exhibit a profound loss of fertility following spinal cord injury. While the mechanisms underlying this loss have been discussed for decades, our laboratories (Grill and Loose) discovered that spinal trauma produces a significant loss in integrity of the blood-testis-barrier; a protective multi-cellular structure that maintains immune privilege of the highly-antigenic sperm and sperm cell-containing compartments within the testis. We also demonstrated that once failed, the BTB remains permeable, essentially for the life of the subject. The goal of our proposal has been two-fold: 1) to develop a greater understanding of the molecular, biochemical and structural pathologies underlying BTB breakdown post-SCI, and 2) to determine whether a novel therapeutic, can help preserve BTB integrity when introduced during the acute phase of SCI using a clinically-relevant rat spinal contusion model. We have found that the drug, licofelone, preserves blood-spinal cord barrier integrity and enhances locomotor function in rats when given early following surgery.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1018477
Entities
People
- David S. Loose
Organizations
- University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston