Table 1.
Bladder response to cystitis induction.
Fig 1.
Mast cell-deficient URO-OVA/KitW-sh mice developed reduced bladder inflammation after cystitis induction.
(A) At day 7 after cystitis induction the bladders of URO-OVA and URO-OVA/KitW-sh mice (both with and without mast cell reconstitution) were collected, sectioned, and analyzed by histological H&E staining. The normal bladders of URO-OVA and URO-OVA/KitW-sh mice were included for comparison. Magnifications: X40 and X200. The images are representative of 6 bladders per group. (B) The bladder sections were stained with toluidine blue solution and mast cells were counted in 10 consecutive sections for each bladder. *p<0.05 and **p<0.01. MC, mast cells.
Table 2.
Changes in voiding habits after cystitis induction.
Fig 2.
Mast cell-deficient URO-OVA/KitW-sh mice exhibited no significant changes in voiding habits after cystitis induction.
At day 6 after cystitis induction URO-OVA mice (B), URO-OVA/KitW-sh mice (D), and mast cell-reconstituted URO-OVA/KitW-sh mice (F) were placed in micturition cages for 24-hour micturition recording (see Table 2). The baseline voiding habits of URO-OVA (A), URO-OVA/KitW-sh (C), and mast cell-reconstituted URO-OVA/KitW-sh mice (E) were included for comparison. Data are shown as the amount (gram) of urine collected in 2-minite intervals during the 24-hour period. The results are representative of 5 mice for each of the three groups. The dark period is indicated by red lines.
Table 3.
Cromolyn treatment reverses voiding dysfunction in URO-OVA mice after cystitis induction.
Fig 3.
Cromolyn treatment reverses bladder inflammation in URO-OVA mice after cystitis induction.
Mice were treated with saline or cromolyn daily beginning one day before cystitis induction up to day 13. The bladders were collected at day 14 and processed for histological H&E staining (A), flow cytometric analysis of bladder infiltrating CD8+ T cells and CD8+Vα2+ T cells (B), and RT-PCR analysis of mRNAs for inflammatory factors IFN-γ, IL-6, TNF-α, NGF and substance P precursor (pre-SP) (C). GAPDH was used as an internal control. M, a 100 bp DNA marker. *p<0.05. The images are representative of 8 bladders per group.