Gender, bladder distension and hypogastric nerve activity in the cat

In the pentobarbitone anaesthetised cat, postganglionic activity was recorded from the whole hypogastric nerve and from hypogastric filaments destined for the bladder wall during bladder distension. A gender difference was observed in whole hypogastric nerve recordings, cardiac-related activity obscuring other components in females with intact internal reproductive organs. In contrast, nerve activity in the vesical hypogastric filaments was dominated by bladder distension-related activity in both sexes. These observations suggest that bladder distension-related activity, which has a continence promoting action on the bladder detrusor muscle, is destined for the bladder wall, while the cardiac-related activity is largely destined for the uterine and vaginal vasculature.