A model of cystitis pain in the mouse

Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic pelvic-perineal pain syndrome of unknown etiology that mainly targets the lower urinary tract. It is characterized by urinary frequency and urgency, inflammation, stiffening of the bladder wall, and visceral pain. Pain is the most prominent feature of IC and current treatments provide limited relief. To facilitate the identification of novel therapeutic options for IC, efforts are being made to identify more predictive rodent models. A well-characterized rat model is based on administration of cyclophosphamide (CP). The protocol described in this unit replicates this model in mice, demonstrating that CP increases both spontaneous and evoked pain behaviors in this species. This mouse model can be used for understanding disease etiology as well as for the pharmacological evaluation of novel therapeutics for the treatment of IC pain.