Hager-Soto E Eldridge, Freiberg Alexander N, Rossi Shannan L
Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77550, USA.
Viruses. 2025 May 23;17(6):747. doi: 10.3390/v17060747.
Several viruses have demonstrated the potential for infecting the human male genital tract, leading to potential host pathologic consequences and sexual transmission. Despite the testes being an immune-privileged niche of the body, viruses like Zika, mumps, Ebola, Marburg, and human immunodeficiency virus infect the lumen of testes. The human blood-testis barrier (BTB) is a specialized epithelial barrier responsible for protecting the developing sperm in the lumen of the seminiferous tubules from foreign antigen; however, testicular-tropic viruses possess the unique ability to modulate this barrier prior to entry into the lumen. Previous scientific reports identified immunomodulatory and viral-induced changes to BTB physiology during infection-a necessary step prior to viral entry into the testicular lumen. This review aims to explore the specific mechanisms employed by viruses to disrupt the human BTB and establish testicular infection.
几种病毒已显示出感染人类男性生殖道的可能性，从而导致潜在的宿主病理后果和性传播。尽管睾丸是人体的一个免疫特权部位，但寨卡病毒、腮腺炎病毒、埃博拉病毒、马尔堡病毒和人类免疫缺陷病毒等病毒会感染睾丸管腔。人类血睾屏障（BTB）是一种特殊的上皮屏障，负责保护生精小管管腔内正在发育的精子免受外来抗原的侵害；然而，嗜睾丸病毒具有在进入管腔之前调节这种屏障的独特能力。先前的科学报告确定了感染期间BTB生理学的免疫调节和病毒诱导变化，这是病毒进入睾丸管腔之前的必要步骤。本综述旨在探讨病毒破坏人类BTB并引发睾丸感染所采用的具体机制。
