Mus musculus Genome sequencing
Infertility affects about 15% of childbearing age couples worldwide with roughly half of the cases being attributed to a male factor. Infection, autoimmune, and inflammation of the reproductive tract have been reported to be etiological factor of male infertility. Approximately 6%~15% of male infertility is related to infection and inflammation of urogenital tract, and approximately 60% of such cases are attributed to orchitis induced by Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) infection. The bacterial orchitis are standardly administrated with antibiotics to eradicate the pathogen. However, antibiotic treatment cannot fully restored fertility because of epididymal and testicular inflammatory impairment in most cases. In addition, broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen are used for symptomatic treatment of bacterial and autoimmune orchitis, however, these drugs target non-specifically and may disrupt endocrine and sperm development. Thus, further elucidation of the underlying immunopathological mechanism in orchitis is essential for developing novel therapeutic strategies.