title: The effects of acute and chronic psychological stress on bladder function in a rodent model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Psychological stress plays a role in the exacerbation of functional lower urinary tract disorders, such as painful bladder syndrome and overactive bladder. To better understand the mechanism underlying this relationship, we characterized changes in micturition, anxiety-related behavior, and bladder pathology in rats exposed to repeated water avoidance (WA) stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four Wistar rats were subjected to WA stress or sham. Immediately after acute (day 1) and chronic (day 10) stress or sham, rats were placed in a metabolic cage for a 2-hour voiding behavior assessment. Voiding parameters were compared with baseline values obtained before stress. Four animals from each group were sacrificed on day 10 and bladders harvested for histologic and gene expression studies. The remaining 8 animals per group underwent repeated voiding assessment every 3 days for 1 month followed by 10 days of repeat WA stress or sham. Bladder histology and gene expression were studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rats exposed to WA stress developed a significant increase in micturition frequency and decrease in latency to void, voiding interval, and volume of first void compared with sham and baseline. Alterations in micturition persisted for approximately 1 month. Stressed rats showed increased fecal pellet excretion and anxiety-like behavior. In addition, bladder specimens from stressed animals revealed increased angiogenesis, and increased total and activated mast cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In rats, repeated psychological stress results in lasting alterations in micturition frequency, interval, and volume. This rodent model may represent a valid tool for studying syndromes characterized by increased urinary frequency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. ariana.smith@uphs.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Ariana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Suny
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kun
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Iordanes
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karagiannides
authors.forename: Shlomo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raz
authors.forename: Una
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Viktoriya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Glovatscka
authors.forename: Charalabos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pothoulakis
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bradesi
authors.forename: Emeran A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Larissa V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000166:cytology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology*; D001745:Urinary Bladder Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D014553:Urinary Tract Physiological Phenomena; D014554:Urination; D014555:Urination Disorders / Q000473:pathology