Reproductive cytotoxicity is predicted by magnetic resonance microscopy and confirmed by ubiquitin-proteasome immunohistochemistry in a theophylline-induced model of rat testicular and epididymal toxicity.
Authors
Tengowski MW; Sutovsky P; Hedlund LW; Guyot DJ; Burkhardt JE; Thompson WE; Sutovsky M; Johnson GA
This study investigated the testicular changes in the rat induced by the nonspecific phosphodiesterase inhibitor, theophylline using magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) and ubiquitin immunostaining techniques. In vivo T1- and T2-weighted images were acquired at 2 T under anesthesia. Increased signal observed in the theophylline-treated rats suggests that leakage of MRM contrast was occurring. In vivo MRM results indicate that day 16 testis displayed an increased T1-weighted water signal in the area of the seminiferous tubule that decreased by day 32. These findings were validated by histopathology, suggesting that in vivo MRM has the sensitivity to predict changes in testis and epididymal tissues. The participation of the ubiquitin system was investigated, using probes for various markers of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. MRM can be used to detect subtle changes in the vascular perfusion of organ systems, and the up-regulation/mobilization of ubiquitin-proteasome pathway may be one of the mechanisms used in theophylline-treated epididymis to remove damaged cells before storage in the cauda epididymis. The combined use of in vivo MRM and subsequent tissue or seminal analysis for the presence of ubiquitin in longitudinal studies may become an important biomarker for assessing testis toxicities drug studies.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.