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Biomarkers in lower urinary tract symptoms/overactive bladder: a critical overview
Tiago Antunes-Lopes1, Célia D Cruz, Francisco Cruz
1aTranslational NeuroUrology, IBMC - Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Porto bDepartment of Urology, Hospital de S. João cDepartment of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Medicine of Porto, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal dDepartment of Urology, Eberhard-Karls University, Tubingen, Germany.
Purpose Of Review:
Biomarkers constitute objectively measurable characteristics that can be evaluated as indicators of physiological and pathogenic processes and might be used as diagnostic, prognostic or predictive tools in clinical care. This review examines the availability of biomarkers to treat the dynamic and complex symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB).
Recent Findings:
OAB biomarkers may contribute to reveal the origin of storage symptoms in otherwise healthy individuals. The research encompassing the changes that occur in the bladder or in the peripheral (and central) nervous system might be determined through blood or urinary molecules (neurotrophins, ATP, prostaglandins, C-reactive protein and cytokines) or the measurement of events occurring in the bladder wall (bladder wall or detrusor wall thickness, oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin concentration). These biomarkers might contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying OAB.
Summary:
The word biomarker to name all the parameters described above, from bladder wall thickness to urinary molecules, has been introduced to call the attention to a field wherein objective noninvasive parameters were nonexistent. OAB treatment based on a biomarker, in comparison to the treatment based on a diagnosis made from a careful history and exclusion of urinary tract infection, is not supported by current literature.