Sensory neuronal change after intravesical electrical stimulation in spinailized rat. (73/659)

The clinical benefits of intravesical electrical stimulation (IVES) in patients with increased residual urine or reduced bladder capacity have been reported. However, studies on the underlying mechanism of IVES has been limited to the Adelta afferent and parasympathetic neurons. This study investigated the changes in the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), substance P (SP), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of spinalized rats to determine the effect of IVES on the C fiber afferent nerve. Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into normal controls (n=10); IVES treated normal rats (n=10), spinalized rats (n=10), and IVES treated spinalized rats (n=10). IVES was performed for 2 weeks (5 days a week). IVES was started 3 weeks after spinalization in the spinalized animals. All animals had the DRG removed at the thoracolumbar (T13-L2) and lumbosacral (L5-S1) level. Changes in the CGRP, SP and n-NOS levels at the DRG were measured by western-blot analysis. The relative density of the CGRP and SP following spinalization was significantly higher compared to the controls in both the T13-L2 and L5-S1 DRG. However, IVES in the spinalized rat significantly decreased the relative density of the CGRP and SP compared to the rats with spinalization alone. A significant increase in the relative density of n-NOS was detected in the L5-S1 DRG following spinalization. However, the density of n-NOS was significantly lower after IVES in both the T13-L2 and L5-S1 DRGs. In conclusion, IVES significantly reduced the CGRP, SP and n-NOS levels in the DRG of spinalized rats. CGRP, SP and n-NOS are the main factors that contribute to the hyperexcitability of the micturition reflex after spinal cord injury. These results suggest that the bladder C fiber afferent is also involved in modulating the micturition reflex by IVES.  (+info)

Application of ultrasonic shift Doppler technique to record velocity changes of intrauretral urine flow. (74/659)

Velocity Changes of intraluminal urine flow were recorded using the ultrasonic shift Doppler principle on exposed ureters of five adult mongrel dogs. This method has been used for further understanding of the speed of urine transport within the ureter when it is affected by ureteral peristalsis and the level of diuresis. Simultaneous recording of urine velocity curves and electroureterograms were performed. The results indicate that there is a direct relationship between intraluminal urine flow and peristaltic contraction. The results also show that the velocity of a urine bolus is highest during olguric conditions (urine flow1 ml/min), and, at polyuric conditions (urine flow 3 ml/min) the flow through the ureter is continuous.  (+info)

(Ab)normal saline and physiological Hartmann's solution: a randomized double-blind crossover study. (75/659)

In this double-blind crossover study, the effects of bolus infusions of 0.9% saline (NaCl) and Hartmann's solution on serum albumin, haematocrit and serum and urinary biochemistry were compared in healthy subjects. Nine young adult male volunteers received 2-litre intravenous infusions of 0.9% saline and Hartmann's solution on separate occasions, in random order, each over 1 h. Body weight, haematocrit and serum biochemistry were measured pre-infusion and at 1 h intervals for 6 h. Biochemical analysis was performed on pooled post-infusion urine. Blood and plasma volume expansion, estimated by dilutional effects on haematocrit and serum albumin, were greater and more sustained after saline than after Hartmann's solution (P <0.01). At 6 h, body weight measurements suggested that 56% of the infused saline was retained, in contrast with only 30% of the Hartmann's solution. Subjects voided more urine (median: 1,000 compared with 450 ml) of higher sodium content (median: 122 compared with 73 mmol) after Hartmann's than after saline (both P =0.049), despite the greater sodium content of the latter. The time to first micturition was less after Hartmann's than after saline (median: 70 compared with 185 min; P =0.008). There were no significant differences between the effects of the two solutions on serum sodium, potassium, urea or osmolality. After saline, all subjects developed hyperchloraemia (>105 mmol/l), which was sustained for >6 h, while serum chloride concentrations remained normal after Hartmann's (P <0.001 for difference between infusions). Serum bicarbonate concentration was significantly lower after saline than after Hartmann's (P =0.008). Thus excretion of both water and sodium is slower after a 2-litre intravenous bolus of 0.9% saline than after Hartmann's solution, due possibly to the more physiological [Na(+)]/[Cl(-)] ratio in Hartmann's solution (1.18:1) than in saline (1:1) and to the hyperchloraemia caused by saline.  (+info)

Autonomous activity in the isolated guinea pig bladder. (76/659)

Phasic changes in pressure have been reported to occur in the bladder which are not associated with micturition. Spontaneous intravesical pressure changes can be recorded from bladders in vitro or bladders in vivo isolated from the central nervous system suggesting that the bladder itself is capable of autonomous activity. Experiments using isolated cells and muscle strips indicate that the smooth muscle can generate spontaneous activity. Whether this is the origin of phasic changes in the intact organ remains unknown. The present study set out to establish the presence and characteristics of autonomous activity in the isolated guinea pig bladder. Multiple-point motion analysis and concurrent intravesical pressure recording were used to identify and quantify spontaneous and evoked activity. Highly complex autonomous activity was observed in unstimulated bladders. This activity comprised localised micro-contractions in single or multiple discrete regions, waves of activity and micro-stretches. Low-amplitude phasic 'micro-transients' were seen in the intravesical pressure trace in association with micro-contractions. Incremental increases in the intravesical volume recruited additional areas of activity. Atropine and tetrodotoxin had no effect on the micro-transients or micro-contractions. Exposure to the muscarinic agonist arecaidine (10-300 nM) initially increased the incidence of micro-contractions which subsequently became co-ordinated into phasic pressure rises and contraction waves, interspersed with periods of total quiescence. The findings describe the generation and co-ordination of autonomous activity in the bladder wall and also demonstrate complex phasic activity. This approach has shown the importance of assessing the integrative properties of the entire organ in studies of the physiology and patho-physiology of the bladder.  (+info)

Changes in urination/defecation, auditory startle response, and startle-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in rats undergoing morphine withdrawal: similarities and differences between acute and chronic dependence. (77/659)

In drug-free subjects, a single dose of morphine followed by an opioid antagonist a few hours later results in signs of a withdrawal syndrome, suggesting a state of physical dependence. Increased urination/defecation, altered startle, and ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) are some signs of the withdrawal syndrome in rats chronically dependent on morphine. We investigated whether naltrexone stimulates urination/defecation and alters startle and USV in male rats that were pretreated with only a single dose of morphine and compared these indices to the ones of chronic dependence. Separate groups of rats were pretreated with either a single dose (10 mg/kg) or with a continuous s.c. infusion of morphine via an osmotic pump. Naltrexone (0.01-1.0 mg/kg) was administered 2 to 6 h after the single dose of morphine and on days 7 to 11 of the infusion. Immediately after the naltrexone injection subjects were placed in sound-attenuating boxes to record startle and USV and to collect urine/feces. Subjects chronically exposed to morphine also were tested during spontaneous withdrawal 3 to 24 h after pump removal. Naltrexone increased urination/defecation in subjects pretreated with morphine either chronically or acutely; it increased startle and USV in acutely dependent rats but decreased them in chronically dependent rats. In the latter group, changes in the four variables during spontaneous withdrawal were qualitatively similar to those during precipitated withdrawal but smaller in magnitude. Differences in withdrawal signs between acute and chronic dependence suggest that the neural substrates that mediate those particular components of the withdrawal syndrome are affected differently in the two states of dependence.  (+info)

Lithium orotate, carbonate and chloride: pharmacokinetics, polyuria in rats. (78/659)

1 The pharmacokinetics of the lithium ion administered as lithium orotate were studied in rats. Parallel studies were carried out with lithium carbonate and lithium chloride. 2 No differences in the uptake, distribution and excretion of the lithium ion were observed between lithium orotate, lithium carbonate and lithium chloride after single intraperitoneal, subcutaneous or intragastric injections (0.5-1.0 mEq lithium/kg) or after administration of the lithium salts for 20 days in the food. 3 The findings oppose the notion that the pharmacokinetics of the lithium ion given as lithium orotate differ from lithium chloride or lithium carbonate. 4 Polyuria and polydipsia developed more slowly in rats given lithium orotate than in those given lithium carbonate or lithium chloride, perhaps due to an effect of the orotate anion.  (+info)

Isoflurane but not mechanical ventilation promotes extravascular fluid accumulation during crystalloid volume loading. (79/659)

BACKGROUND: The combination of isoflurane anesthesia and mechanical ventilation reduces urinary output and promotes redistribution of a crystalloid bolus into the extravascular space. The authors hypothesized that mechanical ventilation rather than isoflurane causes this alteration. METHODS: The fate of a 25-ml/kg, 20-min, 0.9% saline fluid bolus was studied in four different experiments per sheep: while conscious and spontaneously ventilating (CSV), while conscious and mechanically ventilated (CMV), while anesthetized with isoflurane and mechanical ventilated (ISOMV), and while anesthetized with isoflurane and spontaneously ventilating (ISOSV). RESULTS: By calculations based on the indicator dilution and mass balance principles, plasma expansion was similar between protocols. Isoflurane but not mechanical ventilation reduced urinary output and increased interstitial fluid volume (P < 0.001): At 180 min, mean total urinary outputs were 15.6 +/- 2.1 and 15.9 +/- 2.9 ml/kg in the CSV and CMV protocols and 2.7 +/- 0.6 and 3.1 +/- 1.1 ml/kg in the ISOSV and ISOMV protocols, respectively. The net changes in extravascular volume, assumed to be interstitial fluid volume, were 8.6 +/- 3.3 and 8.1 +/- 3.1 ml/kg, and 22.5 +/- 1.5 and 22.1 +/- 1.6 ml/kg in the corresponding protocols. Volume kinetic analysis demonstrated extravascular fluid accumulation associated with isoflurane anesthesia similar to the calculated interstitial accumulation of 20.2 +/- 0.5 and 26.5 +/- 0.3 ml/kg in the ISOSV and ISOMV protocols, respectively. CONCLUSION: Isoflurane, but not mechanical ventilation, decreased urinary excretion and increased interstitial fluid volume. Volume kinetic analysis indicated "third-space" losses due to isoflurane. Perioperative fluid retention may be associated not only with surgical tissue manipulation, but with anesthesia per se.  (+info)

Substance P via NK1 receptor facilitates hyperactive bladder afferent signaling via action of ROS. (80/659)

We explored whether substance P (SP) via neurokinin (NK) receptor facilitates bladder afferent signaling and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in bladder in association with neurogenic inflammation. We evaluated ROS activity and cystometrograms as well as pelvic nervous activity in anesthetized rat bladder with SP stimulation. Our results showed that endogenous SP via NK(1), not NK(2), receptor mediated a micturition reflex. An increase in SP by electrical stimulation of the pelvic nerve or an increase in exogenous SP by intra-arterial or intrathecal administration can facilitate myogenic and neurogenic bladder contractions. Furthermore, exaggerated SP release increased ROS in the bladder and whole blood via increased mast cell degranulation, intercellular adhesion molecule expression, and leukocyte adhesion, a primary source of ROS in the inflamed bladder. Treatment with NK(1)-receptor antagonists or ROS scavengers reduced bladder intercellular adhesion molecule expression and ROS and ameliorated the hyperactive bladder response. Our study indicates that the mechanism by which SP participates in the neurogenic bladder may be complicated by its proinflammatory activity and its ability to stimulate ROS generation.  (+info)