ArticlePloS one2018
Sexual behavior and testis morphology in the BACHD rat model.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preventive Effects of Tri Garn Pis Polyherbal Extract on Sexual Performance, Testicular Apoptosis, and Sperm Quality in a Dexamethasone-Induced Chronic Stress in Mice.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Differential Cellular Balance of Olfactory and Vomeronasal Epithelia in a Transgenic BACHD Rat Model of Huntington's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Protective effects of ThaiJournal of traditional and complementary medicine · 2022Article
- Mechanisms of Stress-Induced Spermatogenesis Impairment in Male Rats Following Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress (uCMS).International journal of molecular sciences · 2019Article
- The Sexual Motivation of Male Rats as a Tool in Animal Models of Human Health Disorders.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2019Review
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuntington disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a mutation in the huntingtin (HTT) gene, which results in brain neurodegeneration and peripheral pathology affecting different organs including testis. Patients with HD suffer from motor and cognitive impairment, and multiple psychiatric symptoms. Among behavioral abnormalities in HD, sexual disturbances have often been reported, but scarcely investigated in animal models. The BACHD rat model of HD carries the human full-length mutated HTT (mHTT) genomic sequence with 97 CAG-CAA repeats and displays HD-like alterations at neuropathological and behavioral level.
objectiveThis study aims to phenotype the BACHD rats' sexual behavior and performance as well as testis morphology because alterations in these aspects have been associated to HD.
methodsTwo rat cohorts at the age of 3 and 7 months were subjected to mating tests to assess different parameters of sexual behavior. Histological analyses for testis morphology were performed in different rat cohorts at 1.5, 7 and 12 months of age whereas immunohistochemical analyses were carried out at 7 and 12 months of age to visualize the presence of mHTT in testicular tissue. Furthermore, western blot analyses were used to assess HTT and mHTT expression levels in striatum and testis at three months of age.
resultsAt 3 months, BACHD rats showed a decreased time exploring the female anogenital area (AGA), decreased latency to mount, increased number of intromissions and ejaculations and enhanced hit rate. At 7 months, all sexual parameters were comparable between genotypes with the exception that BACHD rats explored the AGA less than wild type rats. Testis analyses did not reveal any morphological alteration at any of the examined ages, but showed presence of mHTT limited to Sertoli cells in transgenic rats at both 7 and 12 months. BACHD rat HTT and mHTT expression levels in testis were lower than striatum at 3 months of age.
conclusionsThe testis phenotype in the BACHD rat model does not mimic the changes observed in human HD testis. The altered sexual behavior in BACHD rats at three months of age could be to a certain extent representative of and share common underlying pathways with some of the sexual disturbances in HD patients. Further investigating the biological causes of the sexual phenotype in BACHD rats may therefore contribute to clarifying the mechanisms at the base of sexual behavior changes in HD.
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