Vol. 276, Issue 2, R407-R413, February 1999
Sex differences and role of nitric oxide in blood flow of
canine urinary bladder
Michel A.
Pontari1 and
Michael
R.
Ruggieri1,2
Departments of 1 Urology and
2 Pharmacology, Temple
University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140
Continuous measurements were made of
bladder blood flow by laser Doppler flowmetry in anesthetized dogs
during bladder filling and emptying. In both mucosa and muscle,
perfusion was inversely proportional to intravesical pressure. There
was significantly greater perfusion in the bladder mucosa of males than
females at baseline and up to 10 cm water filling pressure but not in the muscle. Intra-arterial infusion of the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine
produced a significant decrease in resting bladder perfusion in the
mucosa only, with no differences seen in the response to intravesical
pressure. Intra-arterial infusion of L-arginine produced a
significant increase in the level of perfusion in the mucosa seen
immediately after the bladder was drained. No changes were observed in
muscle perfusion after
L-arginine. These results
suggest that the perfusion of the bladder mucosa differs by gender and
is regulated differently than the bladder muscle, possibly related to
the different function of the two layers.
perfusion; cystometry; laser Doppler flowmetry; NG-nitro-L-arginine; nitric oxide
synthase
