Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Zugl.: Giessen, Univ., Diss., 2009

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a sexually transmitted viral infection most frequently transmitted by mosquitoes. The source of infectious virions in the male reproductive tract has yet to be elucidated. The goals of the studies included developing and characterizing two mouse models for reproductive transmission studies and demonstration of sexual transmission of virus via artificial insemination. The mouse strains used in the study lacked receptors to interferon molecules, key signaling proteins of the host immune response. Inflammation severity was assessed during acute disease, 5-11 days after infection using a novel histopathology grading system. ZIKV proteins and genome were initially detected in epididymal epithelial cells in males. Inflammation was first observed in the epididymis and progressed to the testicle in both AG129 and Ifnar-/- males. Infection of Ifnar-/- mice may better recapitulate Zika virus pathology in humans due to milder histopathologic lesions, the presence of histologically normal sperm in epididymal tubules, and an ability to survive the acute phase of disease. In further studies, male Ifnar-/- mice were challenged subcutaneously with ZIKV. Artificial insemination fluid derived from experimentally infected males showed positive sexual transmission at 7 days post infection (DPI) but not 35 or 70 DPI. These studies show passage of virus from epididymal flush and seminal plasma to females via insemination during acute ZIKV disease in males and provides a model for sexual transmission of ZIKV.

No description available.

Orientador: André Sampaio Pupo / Resumo: Primordialmente, o epidídimo funciona para proteger e realizar a maturação de espermatozoides. A cauda do epidídimo (CE), região que armazena espermatozoides maduros até a ejaculação, recebe densa inervação de fibras pós-ganglionares simpáticas que liberam noradrenalina para contrair o músculo liso do epidídimo via ativação de adrenoceptores alfa-1A (alfa-1A-ARs). As contrações da musculatura lisa têm papel importante no transporte dos espermatozoides ao longo do ducto epididimário, bem como na contração da CE distal durante a fase de emissão seminal da ejaculação. Recentemente, foi demonstrado que a epididimite, a condição inflamatória do epidídimo, induz aceleração do tempo de trânsito espermático em ratos. Nesta tese, testamos a hipótese de que essa aceleração do trânsito espermático induzida pela epididimite é resultado de alterações na contratilidade do ducto epididimário. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a contração da CE distal mediada por alfa-1-ARs em um modelo experimental de epididimite aguda induzida pelo lipopolissacarídeo (LPS) de E. coli em ratos. Após 6 e 24 h da injeção intraductal de LPS (25 µg) para indução da epididimite (in vivo), estudos de contração indicaram que a potência da noradrenalina aumentou ~6 vezes na CE distal inflamada. As contrações induzidas pela noradrenalina foram competitivamente antagonizadas pelo prazosin, um antagonista não-seletivo de alfa-1-ARs, com afinidades semelhantes nos grupos tratados com LPS e salina (pA2... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The epididymis works primarly to protect and mature the spermatozoon. The cauda epididymis (CE), which stores mature spermatozoa until ejaculation, is densely innervated by sympathetic postganglionic fibers that release noradrenaline to contract epididymal smooth muscle via activation of alpha-1A adrenoceptors (1A-ARs). The smooth muscle contractions have an important role for the adequate transport of spermatozoa within the epididymal duct, as well as for distal CE contraction during the seminal emission phase of ejaculation. It was recently shown that epididymitis, the inflammatory condition of the epididymis, induces acceleration of the sperm transit time in the rat epididymis. We hypothesize that this epididymitis-induced sperm transit time acceleration is due to changes in the contractility of the epididymal duct. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the 1-ARs-mediated contraction of the distal CE in an experimental model of acute epididymitis in rats induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli. Contraction studies indicated that the potency of noradrenaline increased ~6-fold in the inflamed distal CE at 6 h post-intravasal LPS injection. Noradrenaline-induced contractions were competitively antagonized by prazosin, a non-selective 1-ARs antagonist, with similar affinities in both LPS- and saline-treated groups (pA28.9). However, the potency of BMY 7378, a selective 1D-ARs antagonist, was ~50-fold higher in the distal CE treated with LPS (pA2 LPS = 8.... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Ram lamb epididymitis, a serious reproductive disease of sheep, is caused principally by bacteria belonging to the genera Haemophilus and Actinobacillus. Six bacteria were studied: the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) of Actinobacillus seminis (ATCC 15768), ATCC of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (ATCC 29522), field isolates of A seminis (86722 and 4101) and field isolates of Actin obacillus- like bacteria (Y136 and D107). The objectives of this study were to quantitate the adhesion of these 6 bacteria to bovine kidney epithelial cells (BKECs) and ram epididymal epithelial cells (REECs), evaluate the effect of rabbit polyclonal antibody prepared against ATCC 15768 (PoAb 15768) on bacterial adherence to BKECs and REECs, and partially characterize the adhesins present on these bacteria. In a bacterial adhesion assay (BAA), strain and species differences were noted. The number of bacteria adhering to each BKEC ranged (rom a low of 4.27 ± 1.00 (Actinobacillus-like 0107) to a high of 31.84 ± 2.00 (A seminis 86722). The number of bacteria adhering to each REEC ranged from a low of 3.05 ± 0.34 (Actinobacill us-like 0107) to a high of 21.61 ± 2.03 (Actinobacillus like Yl36). In a bacterial inhibition assay (BIA), PoAb 15768 inhibited the adhesion of ATCC 15768 to both BKECs and REECs by 5%. This same antiserum inhibited the adhesion of ATCC 29522 to BKECs by 14.5% and to REECs by 22%. The inhibition of A seminis 86722 adherence to BKECs and to REECs was less than 14% and 35%, respectively. For A seminis 4101, Actinobacillus-like Y136, and Actinobacillus-like 0107, PoAb 15768 failed to prevent adhesion to either BKECs or REECs. When the 6 bacteria were analyzed by autoradiography, 2 (Actinobacillus-like 0107) to 8 (ATCC 29522) potential adhesins were identified. However, the pathogenicity has not been firmly established for many Actinobacillus species and Actinobacillus-like bacteria. The potential adhesins identified in this study were not unequivocally confirmed as bacterial adhesins. An in vit ro model may facilitate the recognition of potential adhesins used by Actinobacillus species and Actinobacillus-like bacteria and may eventually lead to the development of an efficacious bacterin to prevent epididymitis in ram lambs at risk.