Biochemical, molecular and morphological evaluation of urethra of female rats after induced trauma and electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor

Abstract

Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined as a condition resulting in involuntary loss of urine. Damage to the components of the urethra leads to reduced intra-urethral pressure and is associated with its pathophysiology. The pelvic floor-induced trauma causes ischemia, hypoxia and structural disorganization of the urethral tissues in rodents. Electrical stimulation is an efficient physical therapy modality that increases intra-urethral pressure and it is used for UI treatment. However, biochemical and molecular changes in the urethra resulting from the pelvic floor injury, as well as the effect of electric current used to recover the damaged tissue and in the UI treatment are still unknown. Therefore, we propose to evaluate the effect of trauma and pelvic floor electric current in the urethral components of female rats. Thus, the urethra were extracted from four groups of rats: A) control without trauma; B) with recent induced-trauma (7 days), C) with late induced-trauma (30 days) and D) with pelvic trauma and treated with electrical stimulation. The model of the pelvic floor trauma will be performed throught vaginal dilation. Electrical stimulation therapy will be performed using endovaginal probe in a total of 12 sessions throughout 30 days. The animals will be sacrificed immediately after the extraction of the urethras. The samples will be processed and the urethras analyzed regarding the (1) morphology and the structure of its components: connective tissue, nerves, striated and smooth muscle and vessels using histological and immunohistochemical analysis, (2) expression of 14 genes and proteins involved in the metabolism of the urethra components by RT-qPCR and immunoblotting techniques respectively. (AU)