Objectives: To date, few studies have considered the influence of psychological factors on chronic prostatitis (PRO) models. Here, we aimed to refine a murine PRO model combining chemically induced prostatitis with psychological stress.
Methods: A total of 40 mice were randomly divided into four groups: normal control (NC) group, PRO group, water avoidance stress (WAS) group, and PRO + WAS group. Ten mice were assigned to each group: five for cystometrograms (CMGs) and five for von Frey testing and histological analysis. PRO was induced through a prostatic injection of 10% paraformaldehyde. The WAS mice were placed on the middle platform for 1 h per day for 10 consecutive days.
Results: The results of the von Frey test demonstrated that both WAS and PRO induced bladder hyperalgesia in mice, and the WAS + PRO group showed significant pelvic pain symptoms either. The CMG results suggested that the PRO group, the WAS group, and the PRO + WAS group all exhibited bladder overactivity, presented as a shortened micturition interval and decreased threshold pressure evoking bladder contraction. The symptoms of the PRO group and the PRO + WAS group were more severe than those of the WAS group. The tissue staining results indicated that WAS itself caused only mild prostatic inflammation but could significantly aggravate chemical-induced prostatic inflammation, as well as the total number of mast cells and proportion of activated mast cells.
Conclusions: Our refined murine PRO model could manifest persistent bladder overactivity, pelvic hyperalgesia and prostatic inflammation. WAS could induce mild prostatic inflammation and aggravate primary prostatic inflammation.
Keywords: animal model; chronic psychological stress; prostatitis; water avoidance stress.
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