Volume 62, Issue 5, Pages 855-862 (November 2012) Occlusion of Seminal Vesicles Increases Sexual Activity in a Mouse Model  Frédéric D. Birkhäuser, Celine Schumacher, Roland Seiler, Louis de Meuron, Pascal Zehnder, Beat Roth, Antoinette Wetterwald, George N. Thalmann, Marco G. Cecchini, Urs E. Studer  European Urology  Volume 62, Issue 5, Pages 855-862 (November 2012) DOI: 10.1016/j.eururo.2012.04.036 Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology Terms and Conditions

Fig. 1 Surgical procedures of the three experimental groups. A median laparotomy of 15–20mm was done in all groups. (A–C) In the seminal vesicle (SV) occlusion group, all tissue around the exposed SV was cleaved and spared on both sides, enabling gentle placement of a small (3.1mm) titanium ligating clip (Aesculap AG, Tuttlingen, Germany) at the base of each SV. (D–F) In the SV resection group, the anterior lobe of the prostate was cleaved off the exposed SV on both sides. After placing a small titanium clip at the base of each SV, both SVs were resected, leaving a stump of 2–3mm. (G–I) In the sham operation group, both SVs were only exposed. In all three groups, the laparotomy was closed using a running suture (Vicryl 5-0) for the rectus muscles and single stitches (Vicryl 4-0) for the skin. AP=anterior lobe of the prostate; B=bowel; UB=urinary bladder. European Urology 2012 62, 855-862DOI: (10.1016/j.eururo.2012.04.036) Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology Terms and Conditions

Fig. 2 Schema of the test apparatus: a rectangular glass box measuring 60×40×36cm. The apparatus was placed in a box of 0.7-cm-thick, double-fluted, corrugated cardboard measuring 77×56.5×57cm. Observations were recorded by infrared cameras fixed above the apparatus and transmitted to a personal computer for storage and later evaluation. European Urology 2012 62, 855-862DOI: (10.1016/j.eururo.2012.04.036) Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology Terms and Conditions

Fig. 3 Schema of the experimental design: After arrival, naive male and female mice were housed separately for at least 5 d of acclimatization. Then 10–14 d after male surgery, female mice were brought into estrus by exposure to male-originating pheromones during 3 d (Whitten effect). Thereafter, observations were made in sessions of 3h each. SO=sham operation; SVO=seminal vesicle occlusion; SVR=seminal vesicle resection. European Urology 2012 62, 855-862DOI: (10.1016/j.eururo.2012.04.036) Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology Terms and Conditions

Fig. 4 Findings at regional necropsy: Left (*): a mouse after sham operation (SO); right (**): a mouse after seminal vesicle occlusion (SVO). After SO, the SVs were of normal size with a stretched length of approximately 1.5cm. After SVO, the SVs were enlarged and measured a stretched length of 2.5–3.0cm. B=bowel; F=fat; UB=urinary bladder. European Urology 2012 62, 855-862DOI: (10.1016/j.eururo.2012.04.036) Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology Terms and Conditions

Fig. 5 Percentage of sessions with intromission related to the total number of sessions observed per group. Males after seminal vesicle occlusion were statistically significantly more often sexually active (48%) than males after seminal vesicle resection (21%) or sham operation (30%). European Urology 2012 62, 855-862DOI: (10.1016/j.eururo.2012.04.036) Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology Terms and Conditions