This study reports the case of a 4-year-old female Mastiff dog in which a congenital urachal diverticulum was diagnosed. The disorder was related with atypical clinical manifestations. The animal was referred for a radiological evaluation with the clinical signs of ataxia. The owner stated that the symptoms improved after each spontaneous micturition of a dog. The radiological study revealed the presence of degenerative changes in the lumbosacral spine. Moreover, an abnormal shape of the urinary bladder in the abdominal cavity was observed. The ultrasound imaging showed a large diverticulum in the cranioventral part of bladder. The operative procedure and histopathological analyses have confirmed the presence of a urachal diverticulum. The clinical symptoms completely abated after the surgery.
The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution and chemical coding patterns of nerve fibres supplying the canine urinary bladder before and after botulinum toxin (BTX) injection. The experimental material comprised six bitches. The injection of the BTX into the urinary bladder wall in dogs clearly altered the bladder's innervation pattern, indicating that BTX affects the components of both the sensory and parasympathetic nervous systems, and that degenerative changes are accompanied by restorative processes.
Conantokin G (CTG), isolated from the venom of the marine cone snail Conus geographus, is an antagonist of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), the activation of which, especially those located on the central afferent terminals and dorsal horn neurons, leads to hypersensitivity and pain. Thus, CTG blocking of NMDARs, has an antinociceptive effect, particularly in the case of neurogenic pain treatment. As many urinary bladder disorders are caused by hyperactivity of sensory bladder innervation, it seems useful to estimate the influence of CTG on the plasticity of sensory neurons supplying the organ. Retrograde tracer Fast Blue (FB) was injected into the urinary bladder wall of six juvenile female pigs. Three weeks later, intramural bladder injections of CTG (120 μg per animal) were carried out in all animals. After a week, dorsal root ganglia of interest were harvested from all animals and neurochemical characterization of FB+ neurons was performed using a routine double-immunofluorescence labeling technique on 10-μm-thick cryostat sections. CTG injections led to a significant decrease in the number of FB+ neurons containing substance P (SP), pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), somatostatin (SOM), calbindin (CB) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) when compared with healthy animals (20% vs. 45%, 13% vs. 26%, 1.3% vs. 3%, 1.2 vs. 4% and 0.9% vs. 6% respectively) and to an increase in the number of cells immunolabelled for galanin (GAL, 39% vs. 6.5%). These data demonstrated that CTG changed the chemical coding of bladder sensory neurons, thus indicating that CTG could eventually be used in the therapy of selected neurogenic bladder illnesses.
Although resiniferatoxin (RTX) becomes more often used in experimental therapies of sensory system disorders, so far there is no data concerning the influence of RTX on the chemical coding of neurons in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) supplying the urinary bladder in the pig, an animal species considered as a reliable animal model for investigation dealing with human lower urinary tract disorders. Retrograde tracer Fast Blue (FB) was injected into the wall of the right half of the urinary bladder in six juvenile female pigs, and three weeks later, bladder instillation of RTX (500 nmol per animal) was carried out in all the animals. After a week, DRGs were harvested from all the pigs and the neurochemical characterization of FB+ neurons was performed using routine single-immunofluorescence labeling technique on 10-μm-thick cryostat sections. RTX instillation resulted in a distinct decrease in the numbers of FB+ cells containing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), somatostatin (SOM) and calbindin (CB) when compared with those found in the healthy animals (18% vs. 36%, 1% vs. 6%, 0.8% vs. 4% and 0.5% vs. 3%, respectively), and an increase in the number of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)- and galanin (GAL)-immunoreactive (IR) nerve cells (51% vs. 26% and 47% vs. 6.5%). The results obtained suggest that RTX could be taken into consideration when the neuroactive agents are planned to be used in experimental therapies of selected neurogenic bladder illnesses.
Neurogenic inflammation is linked to urinary bladder overactivity development. Cyclophosphamide (CYP) damages all mucosal defence lines of urinary bladder and induces cystitis with overactivity. The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of CYP on rat urinary bladder function, histological structure and mastocytes numbers following acute and chronic CYP treatment. Fourty two female rats were divided into four groups: I (control), II (acute cystitis), III (chronic cystitis), IV (sham group). Acute and chronic cystitis were induced by CYP in single dose and four doses (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th day), respectively. In group I–III the cystometric evaluation was performed. Sections of the bladder were stained with HE and toluidine blue for the detection of mastocytes. The severity of inflammation was examined according to mucosal abrasion, haemorrhage, leukocyte infiltration and oedema. Acute and chronic CYP treatment caused inflammatory macroscopic and microscopic changes (mucosal abrasion, haemorrhage, oedema) and increased infiltration of inflammatory cells in urinary bladder. Acute treatment induced the infiltration of mastocytes within bladder wall contrary to chronic one decrement. Acute treatment caused more severe mucosal abrasion, whereas chronic one revealed more developed haemorrhage changes. Additionally, cystometric evaluation revealed urinary bladder overactivity development in both types of cystitis. Basal pressure and detrusor overactivity index after acute treatment increased considerably in comparison with the increase obtained after chronic one. Our results proved that acute model of CYP-induced cystitis in rats is more credible for further evaluation of neurogenic inflammation response in pathogenesis of overactive bladder as compared to chronic one.
Botulinum toxin (BTX) belongs to a family of neurotoxins which strongly influence the function of autonomic neurons supplying the urinary bladder. Accordingly, BTX has been used as an effective drug in experimental therapies of a range of neurogenic bladder disorders. However, there is no detailed information dealing with the influence of BTX on the morphological and chemical properties of nerve fibres supplying the urinary bladder wall. Therefore, the present study investigated, using double-labeling immunohistochemistry, the distribution, relative frequency and chemical coding of cholinergic and noradrenergic nerve fibers supplying the wall of the urinary bladder in normal female pigs (n=6) and in the pigs (n=6) after intravesical BTX injections. In the pigs injected with BTX, the number of adrenergic (DβH-positive) nerve fibers distributed in the bladder wall (urothelium, submucosa and muscle coat) was distinctly higher while the number of cholinergic (VAChT-positive) nerve terminals was lower than that found in the control animals. Moreover, the injections of BTX resulted in some changes dealing with the chemical coding of the adrenergic nerve fibers. In contrast to the normal pigs, in BTX injected animals the number of DβH/NPY- or DβH/CGRP-positive axons was higher in the muscle coat, and some fibres distributed in the urothelium and submucosa expressed immunoreactivity to CGRP. The results obtained suggest that the therapeutic effects of BTX on the urinary bladder might be dependent on changes in the distribution and chemical coding of nerve fibers supplying this organ.
A new species of Kritskyia Kohn, 1990 (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae, Ancyrocephalinae) is described from the urinary bladder of Salminus brasiliensis (Cuvier, 1816) (Characiformes, Characidae) from the Cuiabá River, the Pantanal wetlands, Brazil. The male copulatory apparatus of the new species differs from those of other species of the genus by the presence of a bipartite accessory piece (distally and proximally linked), one part grooved, serving as guide for distal portion of the MCO. Moreover, the vagina of the new species differs from those of congeners by possessing distal digitiform processes.
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