The C fibre reflex of the cat urinary bladder

1. Reflexes evoked in bladder parasympathetic neurones by electrical stimulation of bladder C afferent fibres were studied in cats anaesthetized with alpha-chloralose. The responses were compared with the ordinary micturition reflex evoked by low-threshold Adelta afferents from bladder mechanoreceptors and mediated by a spino-ponto-spinal reflex pathway. 2. The bladder was catheterized for fluid instillations and pressure recordings. Efferent reflex discharges were recorded from the cut central end of a small distal bladder branch of the pelvic nerve. The remaining bladder pelvic nerve branches were stimulated electrically close to the bladder. 3. Stimulation at C afferent intensity evoked a late reflex discharge in bladder pelvic efferents in all animals. The response was centrally mediated, had a latency of 150-250 ms, and was much weaker after stimulation on the contralateral nerve. 4. The bladder C fibre reflex differed in several functional aspects from the ordinary Adelta micturition reflex. It could be evoked at a low rate of stimulation, with an empty bladder and no background activity from bladder mechanoreceptors. In this situation, the normal Adelta micturition reflex is not elicited. The C fibre reflex also survived an acute spinalization at a low thoracic level. 5. The C fibre reflex was strongly inhibited by dorsal clitoris or dorsal penis nerve stimulation, an effect that was maintained after spinalization. It was facilitated by bladder or urethra exposure to cold and menthol, stimuli that activate specific cold-sensitive receptors associated with unmyelinated C afferents. 6. It is concluded that the central pathway of the C fibre reflex is spinal and partly separate from that of the ordinary micturition reflex. These observations are in keeping with the clinical finding that a bladder cooling reflex can be elicited in patients with disturbed descending control of the bladder.