Establishment of Rat Model of Female Genital Sexual Arousal Disorder

Introduction: Female Genital Sexual Arousal Disorder (FGSAD) seriously affects women's quality of life and Sexual life, but it still lacks ideal FGSAD animal models for further study. Aim: To establish a specific model of female genital sexual arousal disorder and explore the mechanisms resulting in FGSAD. Methods: After delivery, female rats were guided by expansions of the vagina and ovariectomy (VD+OVX, n = 10); in VD group female rats were just extended by the vagina (VD, n = 10), in OVX group female rats were treated with ovariectomy (OVX, n = 10);the remaining had 1 longitudinal incision as sham group(n = 10). Outcomes: Vaginal dilatation combined with ovariectomy in rats may reflect female genital sexual arousal disorder with high reproducibility and stability. Results: Vaginal tissue of female rats in OVX group and VD+OVX group showed an increase in blood flow, decrease in muscle content compared to the sham group. The proportion of collagen fiber I/III decreased and the elastic fiber showed significant rupture and fragmentation; Structural reticular integrity was also significantly separated and broken from the muscle fibers. However, there was no significant difference in vaginal blood flow, fibers and vascular between VD group and Sham group. The damage of vaginal tissue in VD+OVX group was more significant than that in OVX and VD groups. Clinical Translation: We have constructed a specific animal model that can provide clinical insights into the mechanism of FGSAD and serves as a good avenue for further research of its treatment. Strengths and Limitations: Vaginal dilatation combined with ovariectomy in rats is a specific animal model with high reproducibility and stability, but we do acknowledge the shortcomings and limitation present in our study. Since genital arousal disorder has many different etiologies that impact the vagina, the clitoris and surrounding tissues, there is no "gold standard " model that different models attempt to investigate different etiologies. Conclusion: The female genital sexual arousal disorder model established by vaginal dilatation combined with ovariectomy is a novel rat model with simple induction conditions, which pathogenic mechanism of female genital sexual arousal disorders maybe connected with the change of VEGF and MMP-9 in vaginal fibromuscular system and microvascular. Copyright (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the International Society for Sexual Medicine. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/4.0/).