Impaired bladder function in aging male rats.
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence of bladder dysfunctions increases with age. In humans it is difficult to separate changes related to exogenous factors from those directly related to the aging process. Some confounding variables can be avoided by studying age related changes in an animal model. We evaluated the impact of age on bladder function in vivo and in vitro, and characterized the corresponding morphological changes.


METHODS
Young (4 to 6 months old) and old (older than 28 to 30 months) male Fischer/Brown Norway rats were used in the study. Cystometric studies were done in conscious, freely moving rats. After cystometry tissue strips from the bladder body were used in in vitro studies of muscarinic receptor activation and electrical field stimulation, and histological examination.


RESULTS
Old rats had higher bladder weight than young rats but the bladder-to-body weight ratio did not change. We noted significant age related differences in 8 of 10 cystometric parameters. Old rats had increased bladder capacity, post-void residual volume, micturition volume and frequency, baseline and intermicturition pressure, and spontaneous activity but decreased micturition pressure. Bladder strip responses to carbachol and electrical field stimulation were significantly lower in old than in young rats. Histological examination revealed urothelial thinning, lower muscle mass and higher collagen content in the bladders of old vs young rats.


CONCLUSIONS
Physiological aging alters bladder function in male rats even when external factors remain constant. Thus, in old rats bladder capacity, post-void residual urine and spontaneous activity are higher, and responses to muscarinic receptor stimulation and electrical field stimulation are lower than in young rats. Such changes correspond to findings in aging human bladders, supporting the view that the Fischer/Brown Norway rat is a useful model in which to study age related bladder function changes.
Zhao
Weixin
W
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Aboushwareb
Tamer
T
Turner
Chanda
C
Mathis
Cathy
C
Bennett
Colleen
C
Sonntag
William E
WE
Andersson
Karl-Erik
KE
Christ
George
G
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002217:Carbachol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012307:Risk Factors; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014160:Transducers, Pressure; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014546:Urinary Catheterization
D002217:Carbachol