Mild DM and pregnancy can lead to a time-dependent disorder and tissue remodeling in which the urethral striated muscle and ECM has a fundamental function.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: There is uncertainty in the literature regarding the theory that obstetric events and pelvic floor injuries give rise to lower risk of subsequent urinary incontinence among women delivering via cesarean section than among women delivering vaginally. The objective of this study was to assess the two-year postpartum prevalence of urinary incontinence and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction and the factors responsible for them. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study, conducted in a public university. METHODS: 220 women who had undergone elective cesarean section or vaginal childbirth two years earlier were selected. Their urinary incontinence symptoms were investigated, and their pelvic floor muscle dysfunction was assessed using digital palpation and a perineometer. RESULTS:The two-year urinary incontinence prevalences following vaginal childbirth and cesarean section were 17% and 18.9%, respectively. The only risk factor for pelvic floor muscle dysfunction was weight gain during pregnancy. Body mass index less than 25 kg/m 2 and normal pelvic floor muscle function protected against urinary incontinence. Gestational urinary incontinence increased the risk of two-year postpartum urinary incontinence. CONCLUSION: Gestational urinary incontinence was a crucial precursor of postpartum urinary incontinence. Weight gain during pregnancy increased the subsequent risk of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, and elective cesarean section did not prevent urinary incontinence. RESUMOCONTEXTO E OBJETIVO: É ainda controversa na literatura a teoria de que eventos obstétricos e traumas no assoalho pélvico representariam menor risco para mulheres submetidas ao parto cesárea do que para aquelas submetidas a parto vaginal, no tocante a subsequente incontinência urinária. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a prevalência de incontinência urinária e disfunção muscular do assoalho pélvico dois anos após o parto e os fatores responsáveis por elas. TIPO DE ESTUDO E LOCAL: Estudo transversal conduzido em universidade pública. MÉTODOS: Foram selecionadas 220 mulheres dois anos após parto cesáreo eletivo ou parto vaginal. Foram avaliados sintomas de incontinência urinária e disfunção muscular do assoalho pélvico por palpação digital e perineômetro. RESULTADOS: A prevalência de incontinência urinária dois anos após parto vaginal e cesárea foi de 17% e 18,9% respectivamente. O único fator de risco para disfunção muscular do assoalho pélvico foi o ganho de peso durante a gestação. Índice de massa corporal inferior a 25 kg/m 2 e disfunção muscular do assoalho pélvico normal foram fatores de proteção contra incontinência urinária. Incontinência urinária na gestação aumentou o risco de incontinência urinária dois anos pós-parto. CONCLUSÃO: Incontinência urinária gestacional foi um precursor crucial de incontinência urinária pós-parto. O ganho de peso durante a gestação aumentou o risco posterior de disfunção muscular do assoalho pélvico e o parto cesárea eletivo não foi uma ação de prevenção para a incontinência urinária.

The urethral muscle of diabetic pregnant rats is affected by long-term mild diabetes and short-term severe diabetes, which plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of pelvic floor disorders. We hypothesized that muscles outside the pelvis are subject to similar changes. The current study aimed at analyzing the effects of long-term mild and short-term severe diabetes on the structure and ultrastructure of fiber muscles and collagen in rats' rectus abdominis (RA) muscle. Therefore, the RA muscle of virgin, pregnant, long-term mild diabetic, short-term severe diabetic, long-term mild diabetic pregnant and short-term severe diabetic pregnant 3-month-old Wistar rats were collected. The structure was analyzed by picrosirius red staining, immunohistochemistry for fast and slow muscle fibers and transmission electron microscopy. We investigated two levels of STZ- induced diabetes: long-term mild diabetes (blood glucose level: 120–200 mg/dL) and short-term severe diabetes (blood glucose level >300 mg/dL). Long-term mild diabetic pregnant and short-term severe diabetic pregnant rats had decreased fast fibers and increased slow fibers, disrupted areas of sarcomere, intermyofibrillar mitochondria and myelin figures in the RA muscle. Both groups enabled us to analyze the specific influence of pregnancy, separately from diabetes. The current study demonstrated that diabetes and pregnancy induced intramuscular transformation and reorganization of RA muscle with a switch of fiber type adjusting their architecture according to intensity and duration of hyperglycemic insult within pregnancy.

This study provides the first line of experimental evidence supporting a metabolic relationship between hyperglycemia and urethral remodeling of connective tissue in pregnant rats. The different organization of the collagen fibrils and the profile of glycosaminoglycans found in urethral samples suggest that the pathology of the urethral fibromuscular system could be related to hyperglycemia-induced pelvic floor dysfunction in women, which has direct clinical implications with the possibility to develop new multidisciplinary treatments for improving the health care of these women.

Either long-term mild hyperglycemia or short-term severe hyperglycemia have detrimental impacts on muscle health. They are both involved in the failure to maintain healthy skeletal muscle that may contribute to the development of pelvic floor dysfunctions via different pathways. These results have important implications for monitoring and prevention strategies for improving the quality of life of women with diabetes mellitus and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. Neurourol. Urodynam. 36:574-579, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.