Reproductive and Urinary Physiology Commons^™

Identifying Novel Fibrotic Mechanisms Underlying Treatment-Resistant Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction, Quentin Darcy

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

IDENTIFYING NOVEL FIBROTIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING TREATMENT-RESISTANT LOWER URINARY TRACT DYSFUNCTION

August 2025

Quentin D’Arcy, B.S., University of Massachusetts Amherst

Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Boston

Directed by Dr. Jill Macoska

Lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) is a common, age-related disease that affects millions of men over the age of 50. Current treatment for this and other related prostate diseases concentrate on decreasing benign prostate growth and relaxing smooth muscle contractions to alleviate urinary voiding symptoms. However, up to 45% of patients with LUTD are treatment-resistant and require surgical intervention to resolve prostate issues. By focusing on the contribution of inflammation-derived …

The Role Of Non-Neuronal Acetylcholine In Urogenital Chlamydial Infection, Jessica R. Lockhart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chlamydia trachomatiscauses a bacterial sexually transmitted infection, Chlamydia, that is often chronic and casues reproductive complications in women. We hypothesized that Chlamydia infection increases local acetylcholine (ACh) production, which regulates the host’s inflammatory response to the infection. Female mice infected with C. muridarumwere sacrificed at days 3, 9, 15, and 21 post-infection, genital tract tissues harvested, and immunohistochemistry performed to enumerate ACh-producing cells. Infection increased the number of ACh-producing cells in cervical tissue at days 3,15, and 21 post-infection (pi), uterine tissue at day 3 and 9 pi, and ovarian tissue day 3, 15, and 21 pi. These …

Associations Of Maternal Plasma Free Fatty Acid Profiles With Markers Of Inflammation In Healthy Pregnant Women, Xinhua Chen, Thomas P. Stein, Theresa O. Scholl, Robert A. Steer

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

We investigated the relationship between maternal fasting plasma free fatty acid (FFA) profiles and markers of inflammation (MOI) (IL-6, 8, 10, TNF-α, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GMCSF) and resistin) in healthy pregnant women during early gestation (week 16).

These data suggested that maternal functional long-chain FFAs influence inflammatory response during normal pregnancy. Changes in specific FFA composition may reduce low-grade inflammation and inflammation related poor pregnancy outcomes and complications.

Differential Expression Of Mrna Encoding Cytokines And Chemokines In The Reproductive Tract After Infection Of Mice With Chlamydia Trachomatis, Katheryn L. Cerny, Maranda Van Fleet, Anatoly Slepenkin, Ellena M. Peterson, Phillip J. Bridges

Animal and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

Infection with Chlamydia trachomatis targets epithelial cells within the genital tract which respond by secreting chemokines and cytokines. Persistent inflammation can lead to fibrosis, tubal infertility and/or ectopic pregnancy; many infections are asymptomatic. Most studies have investigated the inflammatory response in the initial stages of infection, less is known about the later stages of infection, especially with a low, potentially asymptomatic, bacterial load. Our objective was to determine the inflammatory mediators involved in clearance of low-grade infection and the potential involvement in chronic inflammation. Six to eight week old C3H/HeJ mice were pretreated with 2.5 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate on day …