Serum and Urine Biomarkers for Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

The diagnosis of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome primarily relies on symptom assessment and exclusion of other conditions, heavily depending on the physician's experience. Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome is classified into two major categories: cases with Hunner lesions, while others without Hunner lesions. Detecting Hunner lesions requires cystoscopic examination; however, performing cystoscopy necessitates the physician suspecting that the patient is likely to have "interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome." Objective, non-invasive biomarkers serving as diagnostic indicators are useful to suspect the disease. Although numerous studies have been conducted to identify useful biomarkers, clinical implementation has not yet been achieved. This paper reviews the current status of research on urine and serum biomarkers for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome. Several promising biomarkers exist, but large-scale, multi-center studies to validate their reliability have not been conducted, and the path to clinical implementation remains long.