RESUMO
The urinary bladder is a target organ of several toxic agents. Exposure to those agents induces mild-to-severe changes, which can be evaluated by different methods. Among them, the scanning-electron microscopy (SEM) is the "gold standard" for characterizing urothelial damage since it provides high-definition images, making it possible to detect early lesions on the surface of the urinary bladder. In addition, molecular technologies allow detecting changes in genetic material and investigating the interaction between genes and environmental stress in disease causation. The urinary bladder epithelium is where the most common type of bladder cancer occurs in humans, that is, the transitional-cell carcinoma (TCC). In animal models, the TCC can be similar to the disease in humans. Techniques to evaluate urothelium in experimental models aid in the comprehension of risk factors for urothelial carcinogenesis.
Assuntos
Técnicas Genéticas , Microscopia Eletroquímica de Varredura , RNA/isolamento & purificação , Bexiga Urinária/efeitos dos fármacos , Urotélio/efeitos dos fármacos , Animais , RNA/genética , Ratos , Bexiga Urinária/metabolismo , Bexiga Urinária/ultraestrutura , Urotélio/metabolismo , Urotélio/ultraestruturaRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Prune belly syndrome (PBS) presents with large-capacity bladders, high compliance and post-void residual volumes. Operative and conservative treatments are controversial. When histologically compared to normal bladder, bladder outlet obstruction results in an up- or down-regulation of adrenoceptors. Our goal was to study the immunoexpression of adrenoceptors in detrusor from patients with PBS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bladder domes from PBS patients (n=14) were studied (PBG). For normal controls, bladder specimens were obtained at adult surgery (n=13) (CG1) and at child autopsy (n=5) (CG2). Staining was performed using antibodies to alpha1a, alpha1b, alpha1d and beta3 adrenoceptors. Five to 10 images were captured on an optic microscope with a digital camera and analysed with Photoshop. The immunocyhistochemical index with arbitrary units was calculated and compared. RESULTS: Mean age was 1.28, 64 and 1.41 years for PBG, CG1 and CG2, respectively. The immunohistochemical index with arbitrary units of alpha1a receptors was 0.06 in PBG, 0.16 in CG1 and 0.14 in CG2 (p=0.008); of alpha1b 0.06, 0.06 and 0.07 (p=0.781); and of alpha1d 0.04, 0.04 and 0.05 (p=0.618). Regarding beta3 the respective values were 0.07, 0.14 and 0.10 (p=0.378). CONCLUSION: Our results show a decrease in alpha1a-adrenoceptor immunostaining intensity in detrusor from children with PBS. Further in vitro studies are needed to determine whether these observations are physiologically significant.