Investigating peripheral nerve stimulation as a treatment for female sexual dysfunction

项目摘要 本研究的目的是调查周围神经刺激作为治疗 女性性功能障碍（FSD）。FSD影响着世界上大量的女性，然而， 对治疗方案的研究有限。一个有希望的治疗途径是 神经调节神经调节是一种日益扩大的临床治疗选择， 各种各样的疾病在接受神经调节治疗的男性和女性的研究中， 膀胱功能障碍的治疗（以骶神经调节和经皮胫骨 神经刺激），男性和女性都注意到性功能的意外改善。 这项研究是由假设驱动的，即类似的刺激技术和范式可以 用于专门针对女性FSD患者的性功能， 改进.这种效应已在本实验室的初步研究中得到证实， 已经被证明可以驱动阴道血流中低频振荡的增加， 麻醉大鼠。在这项拟议的研究中，研究人员将进一步研究最佳的 驱动雌性大鼠急性生殖器唤起的参数。此外，研究人员将 评估外周神经刺激对性行为的影响。假设是， 刺激支配性生殖器和驱动生殖器唤起的神经， 增加性接受行为。这将通过记录女性的视频进行评估 在刺激期间和刺激后与雄性大鼠相互作用的大鼠。这项研究旨在证明 外周神经刺激作为女性性行为有效治疗的潜力 功能障碍

Project Summary The goal of this study is to investigate peripheral nerve stimulation as a treatment for female sexual dysfunction (FSD). FSD affects a massive number of women in the world, yet investigations into treatment options have been limited. A promising treatment avenue is neuromodulation. Neuromodulation is an increasingly expanding clinical treatment option to treat a wide variety of disorders. In studies of men and women receiving neuromodulation therapy for treatment of bladder dysfunction (in the form of sacral neuromodulation and percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation), both men and women noted an unintended improvement in sexual functioning. This study is driven by the hypothesis that similar stimulation techniques and paradigms can be used to specifically target sexual functioning in women with FSD and cause significant improvements. This effect has been demonstrated in preliminary studies within this lab, where it has been proven possible to drive increases in low frequency oscillations in vaginal blood flow in anesthetized rats. In this proposed study, researchers will be further investigating the optimal parameters for driving acute genital arousal in female rats. Furthermore, researchers will be evaluating the effect of peripheral nerve stimulation on sexual behavior. The hypothesis is that by stimulating nerves that innervate the sexual genitalia and drive genital arousal, the stimulation will increase sexually receptive behavior. This will be evaluated through video of recording of female rats interacting with male rats during and after stimulation. This research aims to demonstrate the potential for peripheral nerve stimulation to serve as an effective treatment for female sexual dysfunction.