sacrificed at 45 days post-injury. Urethral tissues were harvested and subjected to immunostaining (VerhoeffeVan Gieson; VVG) for elastin. Results were then validated in human urethral scar tissues (n[3) obtained from patients undergoing urethroplasty. RESULTS: RUG findings are summarized in the Fig C. The RUGs performed showed a significant increase in stricture severity after balloon dilation (Fig C -bottom panel). The methodology utilized in the animal model was confirmed fluoroscopically to be replicable. VVG showed strong labeling for elastin (Fig E-F; black stain; yellow arrows) in rabbit and human (Fig G) scar tissues relative to controls (Fig D).CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that this approach is a viable model to study transurethral intervention induced fibrogenesis. It further supports our hypothesis that urethral wall stretch worsens stricture severity due to elastin degradation. This may be an initiating factor in tissue remodeling after injury. Targeting elastin using an elastase may be a potential pharmacological intervention to treat or prevent stricture recurrence after transurethral interventions.
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