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Decrease of urinary nerve growth factor levels after antimuscarinic therapy in patients with overactive bladder

Hsin-Tzu Liu¹, Michael B Chancellor, Hann-Chorng Kuo

¹Department of Urology, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital and Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.

BJU International

|February 18, 2009

Abstract

Objective:

To determine urinary nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in patients with overactive bladder (OAB) and after treatment with antimuscarinics.

Patients And Methods:

Urinary NGF levels were measured in 38 'normal' controls and 70 patients with OAB. Patients were treated with tolterodine 4 mg once daily. Urinary NGF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method and normalized by urinary creatinine levels (NGF/Cr). The urinary NGF/Cr levels and urgency severity scale (USS) were compared at baseline, 1, 2 and 3 months after antimuscarinics, and 1 month after discontinuing treatment.

Results:

The urinary NGF/Cr level was very low in normal controls with a mean (sem) of 0.005 (0.003). Patients with OAB had significantly higher baseline urinary NGF/Cr levels than the controls. Urinary NGF/Cr levels were significantly reduced at 3 months in 50 responders (1.10 [0.26] before vs 0.41 [0.09] after, P = 0.008) but not in the 20 non-responders (1.38 [0.54] before vs 1.30 [0.46] after, P = 0.879). However, after discontinuing antimuscarinic treatment for 1 month, the urinary NGF/Cr level was elevated in 23 responders at 0.83 (0.33) and in five non-responders at 2.72 (1.41). The USS scores significantly changed with the change of urinary NGF/Cr levels in responders at different time points. The voided volume increased but maximum urinary flow rate and postvoid residual volume did not increase in responders after 3-months of antimuscarinic treatment. The limitation of this study was the lack of a control arm for comparison.

Conclusions:

Changes in the urinary NGF levels were associated with the changes of the USS scores after antimuscarinic treatment and discontinued medication. The urinary NGF level could be a potential biomarker for evaluating therapeutic results of antimuscarinics therapy.

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