The Blood-testis-barrier and Male Sexual Dysfunction Following Spinal Cord Injury
Abstract
A majority of males exhibit a profound loss of fertility following spinal cord injury. While the mechanisms underlying this loss have been discussed for decades, recently my lab 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, recently identified in our laboratory, 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 injury. During this first year, we have performed all planned spinal cord injuries (24 hour out to 90 day time points); collected testis tissues and have sent samples out for metabolomic analysis and gene array studies. Remaining tissues are banked for Western blot and histological assessments that will be determined by the outcomes generated via the metabolomic and array studies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA598213
Entities
People
- Raymond J. Grill
Organizations
- University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston