Presenter Information
Cox, Abigail; Sadler, Katelyn; Kolber, Benedict
Abstract
Millions of people in the United States are afflicted with chronic bladder pain syndromes including interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) and chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). IC/BPS and CP/CPPS patients suffer from generalized pelvic pain, frequent urination with a decrease in urine volume, a constant urge to urinate, and psychological comorbidities in the absence of infection. The etiology is undetermined and treatments are limited. To better understand the mechanisms of IC/BPS and CP/CPPS, many animal models have been developed. In one such model, rodents are injected with cyclophosphamide (CYP), a chemotherapeutic drug that causes cystitis. We are exploring how long the behavioral and physiological effects of this model last. In our experiments, male and female mice were injected with 100mg/kg of CYP every other day for five days. In order to understand the model’s physiological impacts, we measured the urinary frequency and volume, body weight, and bladder weight before CYP administration, and again one and seven days following the final administration. Furthermore, we assessed the changes in referred bladder pain across these time points using von Frey filaments. Lastly, histological analysis was performed to determine the effects that the injections had on the morphology of the bladder tissue. Our results suggest that repeated CYP injections are inducing disease-like symptoms for at least seven days. Therefore, we can successfully model and characterize bladder pain syndromes in male and female mice for a long period of time in hopes of one day reducing suffering within the patient population.
School
Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
Advisor
Benedict Kolber, Ph.D.
Submission Type
Paper
Publication Date
2016-04-06
Included in
Modeling chronic bladder pain in male and female mice: Exploring the chronicity of repeated cyclophosphamide injections.
Millions of people in the United States are afflicted with chronic bladder pain syndromes including interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) and chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). IC/BPS and CP/CPPS patients suffer from generalized pelvic pain, frequent urination with a decrease in urine volume, a constant urge to urinate, and psychological comorbidities in the absence of infection. The etiology is undetermined and treatments are limited. To better understand the mechanisms of IC/BPS and CP/CPPS, many animal models have been developed. In one such model, rodents are injected with cyclophosphamide (CYP), a chemotherapeutic drug that causes cystitis. We are exploring how long the behavioral and physiological effects of this model last. In our experiments, male and female mice were injected with 100mg/kg of CYP every other day for five days. In order to understand the model’s physiological impacts, we measured the urinary frequency and volume, body weight, and bladder weight before CYP administration, and again one and seven days following the final administration. Furthermore, we assessed the changes in referred bladder pain across these time points using von Frey filaments. Lastly, histological analysis was performed to determine the effects that the injections had on the morphology of the bladder tissue. Our results suggest that repeated CYP injections are inducing disease-like symptoms for at least seven days. Therefore, we can successfully model and characterize bladder pain syndromes in male and female mice for a long period of time in hopes of one day reducing suffering within the patient population.