Regional modulation of toll-like receptor signaling pathway genes in acute epididymitis in mice.

Background: Region-specific immune environments in the epididymis influence the immune responses to uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) infection, a relevant cause of epididymitis in men. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are essential to orchestrate immune responses against bacterial infections. The epididymis displays region-specific inflammatory responses to bacterial-derived TLR agonists, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS; TLR4 agonist) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA; TLR2/TLR6 agonist), suggesting that TLR-associated signaling pathways could influence the magnitude of inflammatory responses in epididymitis.

Low dose of cyclosporine A disrupts sperm parameters and testosterone levels reversibly in mice.

The prevalence of autoimmune diseases has increased worldwide, including in men of reproductive age. Cyclosporine A (CsA) is an immunosuppressive drug commonly used for long periods in the prophylaxis and treatment of autoimmune dysfunction and transplant rejection. Owing to CsA toxicity, most clinical settings use lower CsA doses.

Epididymal protease inhibitor (EPPIN) is a protein hub for seminal vesicle-secreted protein SVS2 binding in mouse spermatozoa.

EPPIN is a sperm-surface drug target for male contraception. Here we investigated EPPIN-interacting proteins in mouse spermatozoa. We showed that EPPIN is an androgen-dependent gene, expressed in the testis and epididymis, but also present in the vas deferens, seminal vesicle and adrenal gland.