title: Cystitis: from urothelial cell biology to clinical applications.
abstract: Cystitis is a urinary bladder disease with many causes and symptoms. The severity of cystitis ranges from mild lower abdominal discomfort to life-threatening haemorrhagic cystitis. The course of disease is often chronic or recurrent. Although cystitis represents huge economical and medical burden throughout the world and in many cases treatments are ineffective, the mechanisms of its origin and development as well as measures for effective treatment are still poorly understood. However, many studies have demonstrated that urothelial dysfunction plays a crucial role. In the present review we first discuss fundamental issues of urothelial cell biology, which is the core for comprehension of cystitis. Then we focus on many forms of cystitis, its current treatments, and advances in its research. Additionally we review haemorrhagic cystitis with one of the leading causative agents being chemotherapeutic drug cyclophosphamide and summarise its management strategies. At the end we describe an excellent and widely used animal model of cyclophosphamide induced cystitis, which gives researches the opportunity to get a better insight into the mechanisms involved and possibility to develop new therapy approaches.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Dankook University College of Medicine, 359 Manghyang-ro, Cheonan 330-715, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Gilho
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Vrazov trg 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Rok
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romih
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Vrazov trg 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Daša
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zupančič
mesh_terms: D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003556:Cystitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D019459:Urothelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D003520:Cyclophosphamide