Hyperplasia and hypertrophia in the denervated and distended rat urinary bladder

The parasympathetically denervated and distended rat urinary bladder was found to have increased fourfold in weight when examined 3 weeks postoperatively. Both in muscularis and mucosa of such a bladder the synthesis of proteins, RNA and DNA was increased severalfold. An increase in the polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine was also found; these polyamines are usually linked to protein synthesis. The results suggest that the cells of the two layers increase both in size and number. Hyperplasia was, in a previous study, suggested as a possible explanation for a right-ward shift of the active length-tension curve of muscle strips in the denervated rat urinary bladder.