The effect of maturation and age on oestrogen-induced functional hypertrophy of the female rabbit bladder.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of maturation and ageing on oestrogen-induced functional hypertrophy of the female rabbit bladder.

Materials And Methods: Twenty female rabbits were separated into two groups of 10 each by age, young (immature) and old rabbits and each age group was subdivided into three subgroups. The rabbits in subgroup 1 were controls, subgroup 2 were ovariectomized (Ovx) and subgroup 3 were Ovx and received 17-beta oestradiol (1 mg/kg/day) by a subcutaneous slow-release tablet implant.

Novel alterations in superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in the female rabbit bladder subjected to hormonal manipulations.

Objectives: Previous studies have demonstrated that ovariectomy induces reduced blood flow and hypoxia, resulting in free radical damage of the mucosal and smooth muscle compartments of the rabbit urinary bladder, whereas estradiol administration results in angiogenesis and recovery from hypoxia. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of ovariectomy and estradiol replacement on the superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities of the bladder.

Methods: A total of 12 mature female rabbits were divided into three groups of four rabbits each: control, ovariectomy, and ovariectomy with 17-beta estradiol supplementation by subcutaneous slow-release tablet.

The effects of cyclical oestrogen on bladder and urethral structure and function.

Objective: To determine the effects of cycling oestrogen in rabbits, as oestrogen is essential for physiological maintenance and integrity of the female urogenital tract.

Materials And Methods: Changes in circulating oestrogen have marked effects on the bladder of experimental animals, with ovariectomy (Ovx) inducing smooth muscle (SM) and mucosal atrophy, increasing collagen synthesis and deposition, decreasing contractile function, mucosal and SM blood flow; oestrogen reverses these effects and increases bladder mass and SM density, primarily by stimulating angiogenesis and increasing blood flow. Twenty adult female New Zealand White rabbits were divided into five equal groups; group 1 served as the control group, and groups 2-5 had a bilateral Ovx.

Altered expression of thin filament-associated proteins in hypertrophied urinary bladder smooth muscle.

Aims: Obstruction of the urinary bladder outlet induces detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) hypertrophy. The goal of this study was to determine whether the composition of thin filament-associated proteins, known to play important roles in cytoskeletal structure and/or the regulation of contraction, is altered in DSM during hypertrophy.

Methods: DSM hypertrophy was induced in male rabbits by partial ligation of the urethra.

Over expression of smooth muscle thin filament associated proteins in the bladder wall of diabetics.

Purpose: The thin filament associated proteins caldesmon, tropomyosin and calponin have been shown to modulate actin-myosin interaction, actomyosin adenosine triphosphatase and contraction in smooth muscle. This study was performed to determine whether the expression of these proteins is altered in diabetes induced decrease in the contractility of bladder wall smooth muscle.

Materials And Methods: Detrusor samples were obtained from New Zealand White male rabbits with alloxan induced diabetes, and from age and sex matched control rabbits.

Regional alterations in the expression of smooth muscle myosin isoforms in response to partial bladder outlet obstruction.

Purpose: Smooth muscle (SM) myosin (SMM) isoform composition is altered in response to partial bladder outlet obstruction (PBOO). A recent study showed that during PBOO the upper dome region of the bladder is subjected to greater expansion pressure than the base and regional differences in contractility exist in the detrusor of PBOO rabbits. We hypothesized that alteration in SMM isoform composition in response to PBOO may show regional heterogeneity.