Abstract
It is well known that acupuncture treatment has an effect on patients with an overactive bladder, but the mechanism of its action remains to be clarified. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of acupuncture on bladder overactivity, and the excitability of interstitial cells of Cajal of the bladder in a rat model of partial bladder outlet obstruction. Electroacupuncture (continuous wave, 30 Hz, 1 mA) was applied to stimulate the Ciliao point (BL32) and the Huiyang point (BL35) of rats for 20 min, 3 days. Results showed that acupuncture suppressed detrusor unstable contraction frequency and decreased detrusor maximum pressure in the bladder filling period. Compared with the normal control rats, HCN2 mRNA and protein expression within the bladder were upregulated and were reversed by electroacupuncture in overactive bladder rats as determined by RT-PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Moreover, in-vitro cell-cultured OAB rats bladder interstitial cells of Cajal intracellular Ca2+ concentration were higher than normal control rats, which were lowered after acupuncture treatment. These findings suggest that acupuncture stimulation can suppress bladder overactivity, and regulate the excitability of bladder interstitial cells of Cajal in treatment of overactive bladder myogenic mechanism.
Highlights
Overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome is characterized by urinary frequency and urgency with or without urge incontinence, and is often accompanied by nocturia
We previously found that the nitrergic neurotransmitter in bladder neck and detrusor was obviously decreased in rats with unstable bladder, the electroacupuncture treatment could significantly increase the contains of NOS in bladder tissue, regulate the bladder function, and inhibit bladder overactivity [9]
Our results show that the quality of c-Kitpositive bladder ICCs in OAB rats was significantly increased compared with normal control rats, which was consistent with the results of above studies
Summary
Overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome is characterized by urinary frequency and urgency with or without urge incontinence, and is often accompanied by nocturia. It has been reported that the acupuncture stimulation to the sacral vertebrae has a suppressive effect on bladder activity, improves the symptom of nocturnal enuresis, decreases mean urge frequency, and diminishes voiding symptoms [1,2,3,4,5]. Our previous clinical studies have showed that acupuncture could improve urine dynamics condition, inhibit detrusor instability contraction, increase the bladder capacity, and improve quality of life significantly in OAB patients [6,7,8]. We previously found that the nitrergic neurotransmitter in bladder neck and detrusor was obviously decreased in rats with unstable bladder, the electroacupuncture treatment could significantly increase the contains of NOS in bladder tissue, regulate the bladder function, and inhibit bladder overactivity [9]
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