This study examined the origin of spontaneous activity in neonatal and adult rat bladders and the effect of stretch and muscarinic agonists and antagonists on spontaneous activity. Rats were anesthetized and their bladders were excised, cannulated, and loaded with voltage- and Ca(2+)-sensitive dyes. Intracellular Ca(2+) and membrane potential transients were mapped using photodiode arrays in whole bladders, bladder sheets, or cross-section preparations at 37 degrees C. Intravesical pressure was recorded from whole bladders. In neonatal bladders and sheets, spontaneous Ca(2+) and electrical signals arose at a site near the dome and spread in a coordinated manner throughout the bladder with different dome-to-neck conduction velocities (Ca(2+): 3.7 +/- 0.4 mm/s; membrane potential: 46.2 +/- 3.1 mm/s). In whole bladders, optical signals were associated with spontaneous contractions (10-20 cmH(2)O). By contrast, in adult bladders spontaneous Ca(2+) and electrical activity was uncoordinated, originating at multiple sites and was associated with smaller (2-5 cmH(2)O) contractions. Spontaneous contractions and optical signals were insensitive to tetrodotoxin (2 muM) but were blocked by nifedipine (10 muM). Stretch or low carbachol concentrations (50 nM) applied to neonatal whole bladders enhanced the amplitude (to 20-35 cmH(2)O) of spontaneous activity, which was blocked by atropine. Bladder cross sections revealed that Ca(2+) and membrane potential transients produced by stretch or carbachol began near the urothelial-suburothelial interface and then spread to the detrusor. In conclusion, spontaneous activity in neonatal bladders, unlike activity in adult bladders, is highly organized, originating in the urothelium-suburothelium near the dome. Activity is enhanced by stretch or carbachol and this enhancement is blocked by atropine. It is hypothesized that acetylcholine is released from the urothelium during bladder filling to enhance spontaneous activity.

The isolated bladder shows autonomous micromotions, which increase with bladder distension, generate sensory nerve activity, and are altered in models of urinary dysfunction. Intravesical pressure resulting from autonomous activity putatively reflects three key variables; the extent of micromotion initiation, distances over which micromotions propagate, and overall bladder tone. In vivo, these variables are subordinate to the efferent drive of the central nervous system. In the micturition cycle storage phase, efferent inhibition keeps autonomous activity generally at a low level, where it may signal “state of fullness” while maintaining compliance. In the voiding phase, mass efferent excitation elicits generalized contraction (global motility initiation). In lower urinary tract dysfunction, efferent control of the bladder can be impaired, for example due to peripheral “patchy” denervation. In this case, loss of efferent inhibition may enable unregulated micromotility, and afferent stimulation, predisposing to urinary urgency. If denervation is relatively slight, the detrimental impact on voiding may be low, as the adjacent innervated areas may be able to initiate micromotility synchronous with the efferent nerve drive, so that even denervated areas can contribute to the voiding contraction. This would become increasingly inefficient the more severe the denervation, such that ability of triggered micromotility to propagate sufficiently to engage the denervated areas in voiding declines, so the voiding contraction increasingly develops the characteristics of underactivity. In summary, reduced peripheral coverage by the dual efferent innervation (inhibitory and excitatory) impairs regulation of micromotility initiation and propagation, potentially allowing emergence of overactive bladder and, with progression, detrusor underactivity.

Purpose-Afferent nerve firing has been linked to spontaneous bladder contractions in a number of lower urinary tract pathologies and it may lead to urgency and incontinence. Using optical mapping, single unit recording and tension measurements we investigated the correlation between afferent nerve firing and spontaneous bladder contractions in spinal cord transected mice.Materials and Methods-Bladder-nerve preparations (bladder sheets and the associated L6-S2 pelvic nerves) were dissected from normal and spinal cord transected mice showing overactivity on cystometry and opened along the ventral aspect from base to dome. Bladder sheets were mounted horizontally in a temperature regulated chamber to simultaneously record Ca 2+ transients across the mucosal surface, single unit afferent nerve firing and whole bladder tension.Results-Single unit afferent fibers were identified by probing their receptive fields. Fibers showed a graded response to von Frey stimulation and a frequency of afferent firing that increased as a function of the degree of stretch. Optical maps of Ca 2+ transients in control bladders demonstrated multiple initiation sites that resulted in high frequency, low amplitude spontaneous contractions. Alternatively in maps of the bladders of spinal cord transected mice Ca 2+ transients arose from 1 or 2 focal sites, resulting in low frequency, high amplitude contractions and concomitant afferent firing.Conclusions-Large amplitude, spontaneous bladder contractions evoke afferent nerve activity, which may contribute to incontinence. Keywords urinary bladder; spinal cord injuries; urinary incontinence; neurons, afferent; muscular contraction Spontaneous bladder contractions have been shown to decrease in frequency but increase in magnitude in a number of lower urinary tract pathologies, including outlet obstruction 1 and SCT. 2 These contractions may underlie abnormal increases in intravesical pressure, resulting in urgency, frequency and urge incontinence. 3 This activity may originate in the central nervous system 4 or in detrusor smooth muscle. 5 Alternatively it may originate in the urothelial/ suburothelial region. It has been suggested that the urothelial release of acetylcholine and ATP interacts with lamina propria myofibroblasts to drive spontaneous activity. 6,7 In the rat increases in the amplitude of spontaneous contractions have been noted after SCT. 2 This activity was initiated at a focal site near the bladder dome and it spread over the detrusor in a coordinated fashion. In normal bladders spontaneous contractions originate at multiple Copyright © 2009 Afferent nerves convey sensory information from the bladder to the central nervous system. These nerves comprise myelinated Aδ fibers that are primarily located in detrusor smooth muscle and unmyelinated C fibers that spread through all of the layers of the bladder wall. 8 In the bladder 4 types of afferent nerves have been described, including serosal, muscular, muscular-mucosal and mucosal, of which 63% are muscular. 9 Afferents...

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A substantial portion of the current research on lower urinary tract dysfunction is focused on afferent mechanisms. The main goals are to define and modulate the signaling pathways by which afferent information is generated, enhanced and conveyed to the central nervous system. Alterations in bladder afferent mechanisms are a potential source of voiding dysfunction and an emerging source for drug targets. Established drug therapies such as muscarinic receptor antagonists, and two emerging therapies, β(3) -adrenergic receptor agonists and botulinum toxin type-A, may act partly through afferent mechanisms. This review focuses on these two new principles and new and established methods for determining their sites of action. It also provides brief information on the innervation of the bladder, afferent receptors and transmitters and how these may communicate with the urothelium, interstitial cells and detrusor smooth muscle to regulate micturition. Peripheral and central mechanisms of afferent sensitization and myogenic mechanisms that lead to detrusor overactivity, overactive bladder symptoms and urgency sensations are also covered. This work is the result from 'Think Tank' presentations, and the lengthy discussions that followed, at the 2010 International Consultation on Incontinence Research Society meeting in Bristol, UK.