A new model of vaginal exocrine function

Vaginal dryness is a condition that affects millions of women, especially as they age but also as a side effect of many commonly prescribed drugs. Frequently painful, vaginal dryness affects quality of life and increases risk of other disorders including infections. Prescribed therapies for premenopausal vaginal dryness are limited. Many important drug classes including many antipsychotics, antidepressants, antihistamines and antibiotics cause vaginal dryness as well as dry mouth and eye, and these contribute substantially to patient non-compliance. The subject of vaginal dryness has seen limited study, in part for want of animal models. Mice are a valuable first-line animal model accompanied by an extraordinary range of transgenic variants. Mice have not been used for studies of vaginal function partly because of the challenge of reliably measuring small volumes of vaginal secretions. But it is also frequently assumed that the mouse reproductive system isn’t close enough to the human to be relevant. We have developed a novel method to quantify vaginal secretion in small animals. This proposal tests whether mice may serve as a research model for a series of conditions that impact vaginal function in humans. The assay itself is rapid, minimally invasive and readily repeatable. In mice this assay is sufficiently sensitive to measure both increases and decreases in vaginal secretion. Preliminary data indicates that murine vaginal secretion can be stimulated by a volatile chemical messenger. There are many conditions that contribute to vaginal dryness, from inflammation (e.g. Sjogrens) to polypharmacy. The proposed project tests a panel of these to determine the relevance of the mouse as a model of human vaginal function. It is tempting to dismiss the mouse as a model for studies of vaginal function in humans. Given the gravity of women’s health issues and the limited experimental tools available, we can ill afford to dismiss the mouse a priori without investigation. The experiments proposed here will provide answers to this question and even a negative answer will be valuable for researchers. Positive results would set the stage for further research studies that can contribute to women’s health. Project Number: 1R21HD119422-01 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) | Principal Investigator: ALEXANDER STRAIKER | Institution: TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON, IN | Award Amount: $435,875 | Activity Code: R21 | Study Section: Integrative and Clinical Endocrinology and Reproduction Study Section[ICER] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1R21HD11942201