Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether additional glycine can improve urine storage symptoms in outpatients. Methods: We recruited 50 outpatients (15 females, 35 males) with an Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) of 3 or more. Participants being treated for urine storage disorders took additional glycine for 8 weeks at a dose of 3 g twice a day. Outcome measures included blood pressure, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), OABSS, Nocturia Quality of Life (N-QOL) score, urination frequency, sleep latency, time until the first void at night, bladder pain, improvement in urinary symptoms assessed with the Global Self-Assessment (GSA), and adverse events. Results: In the OABSS, the number of nighttime voids, urgency to urinate, urgent incontinence, and total score were improved. Improvements were also found in the IPSS total score for urine storage items, blood pressure, IPSS-QOL, time to first void, bladder pain, and GSA score, but no changes were seen in the frequency of urination at night, sleep latency or N-QOL score. No adverse events were recorded. Conclusion: Oral glycine improves objective and self-assessed urine storage symptoms, blood pressure, and bladder pain.
Highlights
The amino acid glycine is commonly used as a sweetener and as an over-the-counter supplement for improving the quality of sleep, and it has not been found to have any adverse effects [1]
Outcome measures included blood pressure, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), Nocturia Quality of Life (N-QOL) score, urination frequency, sleep latency, time until the first void at night, bladder pain, improvement in urinary symptoms assessed with the Global Self-Assessment (GSA), and adverse events
Improvements were found in the IPSS total score for urine storage items, blood pressure, IPSS-QOL, time to first void, bladder pain, and GSA score, but no changes were seen in the frequency of urination at night, sleep latency or N-QOL score
Summary
The amino acid glycine is commonly used as a sweetener and as an over-the-counter supplement for improving the quality of sleep, and it has not been found to have any adverse effects [1]. Studies in rats showed that, as glycine levels decrease, bladder activity increases, bladder contractions are more frequent, and the maximum bladder contraction pressure is higher [3] [7]. Other studies in rats showed that oral glycine (administered as 1% to 3% of the diet) reduces both the frequency of bladder contractions and the maximum contraction pressure [8] [9] [10]. In a 4-week study, we compared oral glycine (3 g twice a day) with glucose in 20 patients receiving treatment for urine storage symptoms and found greater improvements by additional glycine in urine storage symptoms, cardiovascular function, bladder pain, and sleep quality [11]. We aimed to conduct a single-blind, uncontrolled study to evaluate the effects of oral glycine in ameliorating symptoms of urine storage
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