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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Autonomic Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1555152
Facilitation of Non-Nociceptive Bladder Activity and Suppression of Somatic Afferent Inhibition by Hypogastric Afferents in Cats
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Urology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- 2 Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- 3 Department of Bioengineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
While it is well known that the sensory arm of the micturition reflex is mediated by A-δ afferents in the pelvic nerve, the urinary bladder is also innervated by afferents in the hypogastric nerve (HGN), whose role in micturition is less well understood. We have recently determined that stimulation of HGN C-fiber afferents can facilitate nociceptive bladder activity in the cat induced by intravesical instillation of acetic acid. The aim of the present study, then, was to determine if activation of HGN afferents could similarly facilitate normal bladder activity in the cat, evoked by saline distension. Additional experiments examined if HGN stimulation could modulate the inhibitory effects of tibial or pudendal neuromodulation on bladder capacity. Hypogastric nerve stimulation (HGNS) at 30 Hz and 15 V significantly reduced bladder capacity to 80.01±3.86% of control. Tibial or pudendal nerve stimulation (5 Hz, 2T) significantly increased bladder capacity to 187.6±20.2% or 193.8±19.0% of control, respectively. Simultaneous HGNS significantly reduced the efficacy of tibial nerve neuromodulation (reduced to 158.7±18.7% of control) but only partially suppressed the bladder inhibition induced by pudendal neuromodulation (reduced to 161.9±18.0% of control). These results suggest that nociceptive HGN C-fiber afferents, which may include those from pelvic organs other than the bladder, may facilitate normal bladder activity to cause bladder overactivity. Additionally, HGN C-fiber afferents may influence the efficacy of tibial or pudendal neuromodulation therapy in treating OAB.
Keywords: Overactive bladder (OAB), Neuromodulation, Hypogastric nerve, Tibial Nerve, Pudendal Nerve
Received: 03 Jan 2025; Accepted: 11 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shen, Wang, Tai and Beckel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jonathan M Beckel, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, Pennsylvania, United States
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