Promise of Urinary Nerve Growth Factor for Assessment of Overactive Bladder Syndrome

Hann-Chorng Kuo; Hsin-Tzu Liu; Zhonghong Guan; Pradeep Tyagi; Michael B Chancellor

doi:10.1111/j.1757-5672.2011.00087.x

Promise of Urinary Nerve Growth Factor for Assessment of Overactive Bladder Syndrome

Low Urin Tract Symptoms. 2011 Apr;3(1):2-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1757-5672.2011.00087.x. Epub 2011 Feb 9.

Authors

Hann-Chorng Kuo¹, Hsin-Tzu Liu¹, Zhonghong Guan¹, Pradeep Tyagi¹, Michael B Chancellor¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Urology, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital and Tzu Chi University, Hualien, TaiwanDepartment of Urology, State University Of New York Downstate, New York, New York, USADepartment of Urology, Oakland University, William Beaumont School of Medicine, Royal Oak, Michigan, USA.

PMID: 26676344
DOI: 10.1111/j.1757-5672.2011.00087.x

Abstract

Overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) is highly prevalent bladder disorder in men and women. About 10-15% of the population suffers from urgency frequency with or without urgency urinary incontinence. It is estimated that 50-75% of patients with OAB may have urodynamic detrusor overactivity (DO). Urodynamic study invasive and most of the OAB patients might not accept it as a routine assessment. Therefore, a more objective and non-invasive test for diagnosis and assessing DO from OAB patients is needed. Recently, urinary nerve growth factor (NGF) has gained great interest in detecting DO in patients with OAB. Urinary NGF level was found to increase in OAB and urodynamic DO. Urinary NGF levels correlated with severity of OAB symptoms. Patients with either idiopathic or neurogenic DO may have increased urinary NGF levels. Urinary NGF levels have been shown to decrease in patients with patients with OAB and DO who have been well treated with antimuscarinics or botulinum toxin injection, but not in those with persistent OAB after treatment. Not all patients with OAB can have an elevated urinary NGF level; it may also be increased in patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome and other lower urinary tract diseases, suggesting urinary NGF expression could be a product of bladder inflammation and a limited specificity of urinary NGF for diagnosing DO. The source of urinary NGF has not yet been fully explored yet. Nevertheless, urinary NGF level is likely to be a promising biomarker for diagnosis of DO from OAB patients, to monitor therapeutic outcome and predict disease progression.

Keywords: biomarker; interstitial cystitis; nerve growth factor; overactive bladder; urinary incontinence.