vessel-sparing-microsurgical-longitudinal-intussusception

Vessel-Sparing Microsurgical Longitudinal Intussusception Vasoepididymostomy to Treat Epididymal Obstructive Azoospermia

The epididymis is a common site of obstruction in obstructive azoospermia (OA). Vasoepididymostomy has become an important method for the treatment of ...

The East Division of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University

Previous studies have demonstrated that the transplantation of alginate-poly-ʟ-lysine-alginate (APA)-encapsulated rat Leydig cells (LCs) provides a promising approach for treating testosterone deficiency (TD). Nevertheless, LCs have a limited capacity to proliferate, limiting the efficacy of LC transplantation therapy. Here, we established an efficient differentiation system to obtain functional Leydig-like cells (LLCs) from human stem Leydig cells (hSLCs). Then we injected APA-encapsulated LLCs into the abdominal cavities of castrated mice without an immunosuppressor. The APA-encapsulated cells survived and partially restored testosterone production for 90 days in vivo. More importantly, the transplantation of encapsulated LLCs ameliorated the symptoms of TD, such as fat accumulation, muscle atrophy and adipocyte accumulation in bone marrow. Overall, these results suggest that the transplantation of encapsulated LLCs is a promising new method for testosterone supplementation with potential clinical applications in TD.

Xiang-an Tu

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