Bladder overdistension with polyuria in a hypertensive rat model.

Abstract

Polyuria can lead to progressive chronic bladder overdistension. The impact of polyuria on the bladder has been extensively studied in settings of either diabetes or sucrose diuresis in animals. The goal of this study was to investigate the outcomes of polyuria in a hypertension setting. Male Dahl/SS rats, a hypertension model, received a high-salt or normal diet for 6 weeks. Twenty-four-hour water intake, micturition patterns, and blood pressures were recorded biweekly. Conscious cystometry was carried out at the end of this period. Bladders were collected to measure contractile force and for histological analysis. Paired t-tests were used to compare changes between Week 0 and Week 6 within each group. Unpaired t-tests were used for comparisons between groups for all parameters at Week 6. Six weeks of high-salt diet significantly increased water intake and total urine. Blood pressures and volume of urine per micturition was higher in rats on high-salt diet. Bladder overdistension in the high-salt diet group was confirmed by cystometry, shown by a significantly higher bladder capacity, and compliance. No difference in detrusor contractility was observed between both groups. Collagen content was significantly higher in the lamina propria of the high-salt group compared to the normal group, while the opposite was observed in the muscularis. Polyuria, in a hypertension context, leads to changes in bladder morphology and function. These findings help clarify the deleterious clinical impact of polyuria on voiding function, highlighting the variable consequences of bladder overdistension according to the underlying pathology.