Sexual Dimorphism in Pelvic Floor Muscle Architecture

Thursday, October 5, 2023

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM US PST

Location: B110

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Image Label: Comparisons Across Sex

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Image Label: Comparisons Across Species

Scientific Table Presenter(s)

Megan R. Routzong, PhD (she/her/hers)

Postdoctoral Scholar
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, California, United States

Co-Author(s)

MR

Mary M. Rieger, MD, MAS (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas, United States
MC

Mark S. Cook, PhD

Associate Professor
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
RU

Ramya N. Ukkan, B.S. (in progress) (she/her/hers)

Student
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, California, United States
Marianna Alperin, MD MS (she/her/hers)

Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences; Professor of Urology
University of California, San Diego; Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, California, United States

Disclosure(s):

Megan R. Routzong, PhD: No relevant disclosure to display

Mary M. Rieger, MD, MAS: No financial relationships to disclose

Mark S. Cook, PhD: No financial relationships to disclose

Ramya N. Ukkan, B.S. (in progress): No financial relationships to disclose

Marianna Alperin, MD MS: No financial relationships to disclose

Skeletal muscle architecture is the strongest predictor of in vivo functional capacity and has shown that the rat is the most appropriate small animal model for the study of female pelvic floor muscles, but male (human or otherwise) PFM architecture has yet to be quantified. Thus, we aimed to determine 1) whether PFM architecture exhibits sexual dimorphism, and 2) if the rat is also an appropriate animal model for the study of male human PFMs. By comparing the pelvic floor muscle architecture of male and female rats and humans, we identified the presence of sexual dimorphism in both species and determined that the male Sprague-Dawley rat is likely as suitable for the study of male PFMs as the female rat has been proven to be. This study presents new architectural data for the understudied PFMs, and provides data on sex differences, an area that has limited representation in anatomy.