Purpose-We provide an overview of the medical literature supporting the combined use of muscarinic and α-adrenergic antagonist therapy for the treatment of voiding dysfunction. The MEDLINE database (1966 of the United States National Library of Medicine was searched for pertinent studies.
Materials and Methods-Results-Although the mechanism of action of α-adrenergic antagonist therapy for voiding dysfunction has traditionally been assumed to be relaxation of the periurethral, prostatic and bladder neck smooth muscle, substantial evidence supports action at extraprostatic sites involved in micturition, including the bladder dome smooth muscle, peripheral ganglia, spinal cord and brain. Likewise the mechanism of action of anticholinergic therapy has been traditionally assumed to be inhibition of the M 3 muscarinic receptor subtypes that mediate normal bladder contractions. However, M 2 receptor mediates hypertrophied bladder contractions and there is evidence for an M 2 component to the suprasacral control of voiding.Conclusions-Based on the physiology of α-adrenergic and muscarinic receptors the inhibition of each one would be expected to be more beneficial than that of either alone because they would work on 2 components of detrusor function. Patients who would likely benefit from this combination therapy are men with lower urinary tract symptoms, women with urgency/frequency syndrome (overactive bladder), patients with uninhibited bladder contractions due to neurogenic bladder, and patients with pelvic pain and voiding symptoms, ie interstitial cystitis and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
Keywordsbladder; prostate; adrenergic alpha-antagonists; muscarinic antagonists; urination disorders The wide range of patients who might benefit from this type of treatment combination is considered to be large, perhaps several times the estimated 17 million patients in the United States with overactive bladder. 1 A patent application has been filed for the treatment of lower urinary tract (LUT) symptoms (LUTS) in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with this combination. 2