Highlights
- •Saphenous nerve stimulation can inhibit bladder function in anesthetized rats.
- •Complete bladder inhibition can be achieved in saline and acetic acid infused bladder models.
- •Inhibitory effects of saphenous nerve stimulation are not mediated via the hypogastric nerve.
- •The mechanism of action appears to involve an alternative (supraspinal) pathway.
Abstract
Saphenous (SAFN) nerve stimulation was recently shown in anesthetized rats to elicit
bladder-inhibitory responses in a frequency-dependent manner; however, the mechanism
of action is unknown. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential role
of the hypogastric nerve (HGN) in this inhibitory pathway by examining stimulation-evoked
changes in bladder function under four different experimental conditions: (1) HGN
intact, saline infusion (HGNi-s), (2) HGN transected, saline infusion (HGNt-s), (3)
HGN intact, acetic acid (AA) infusion (HGNi-a), and (4) HGN transected, AA infusion
(HGNt-a). Experiments were conducted in 33 urethane-anesthetized female rats, where
continuous bladder infusion was provided through a suprapubic catheter. The experimental
protocol involved two, 40-min stimulation trials in which electrical pulses were applied
to the SAFN at a set frequency (10 Hz) and two different amplitudes (50 μA and 100 μA).
In all experimental groups, SAFN stimulation resulted in complete suppression of bladder
activity with an incidence rate of 25% to 50%. However, significant changes in the
measured urodynamic changes (e.g., basal pressure, contraction amplitude, and inter-contraction
interval) were found only in the HGNt-a animals. Our findings suggest that the HGN
does not mediate the inhibitory effects of SAFN stimulation and that bladder inhibition
is achieved through a different mechanism of action.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
AA (acetic acid), BP (basal (bladder) pressure), CA (contraction amplitude), EUS (external urethral sphincter), HGN (hypogastric nerve), ICI (inter-contraction interval), OI (overflow incontinence), SAFN (saphenous nerve), SNS (sacral nerve stimulation), TNS (tibial nerve stimulation), VV (voided volume)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 19, 2020
Accepted:
April 2,
2020
Received in revised form:
February 7,
2020
Received:
July 8,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
