ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of semiconditional electrical stimulation of the pudendal nerve afferents for the neurogenic detrusor overactivity in patients with spinal cord injury. Forty patients (36 males, 4 males) with spinal cord injury who had urinary incontinence and frequency, as well as felt bladder contraction with bladder filling sense or autonomic dysreflexic symptom participated in this study.MethodPatients with neurogenic detrusor overactivity were subdivided into complete injury and incomplete injury groups by ASIA classification and subdivided into tetraplegia and paraplegia groups by neurologic level of injury. Bladder function, such as bladder volumes infused to the bladder until the first occurrence of neurogenic detrusor overactivity (Vini) and the last contraction suppressed by electrical stimulation (Vmax) was measured by water cystometry (CMG) and compared with the results of each subgroup.ResultsAmong the 40 subjects, 35 patients showed neurogenic detrusor overactivity in the CMG study. Among these 35 patients, detrusor overactivity was suppressed effectively by pudendal nerve afferent electrical stimulation in 32 patients. The infusion volume until the occurrence of the first reflex contraction (Vini) was 99.4±80.3 ml. The volume of saline infused to the bladder until the last contraction suppressed by semiconditional pudendal nerve stimulation (Vmax) was 274.3±93.2 ml, which was significantly greater than Vini. In patients with good response to the pudendal nerve afferent stimulation, the bladder volume significantly increased by stimulation in all the patients.ConclusionIn this study, semiconditional electrical stimulation on the dorsal penile afferent nerve could effectively inhibit neurogenic detrusor overactivity and increase bladder volume in patients with spinal cord injury.
Radiation-induced gastrointestinal (GI) damage is one of the critical factors that serve as basis for the lethality of nuclear accidents or terrorism. Further, there are no Food and Drug Administration-approved agents available to mitigate radiation-induced intestinal injury. Although pravastatin (PS) has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and epithelial reconstructive effects following radiation exposure using mouse and minipig models, the treatment failed to improve the survival rate of high-dose irradiated intestinal injury. Moreover, we previously found that metformin (MF), a common drug used for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus, has a mitigating effect on radiation-induced enteropathy by promoting stem cell properties. In this study, we investigated whether the combined administration of PS and MF could achieve therapeutic effects on acute radiation-induced intestinal injury in mouse and minipig models. We found that the combined treatment markedly increased the survival rate and attenuated histological damage in a radiation-induced intestinal injury mouse model, in addition to epithelial barrier recovery, anti-inflammatory effects, and improved epithelial proliferation with stem cell properties. Furthermore, in minipig models, combined treatment with PS and MF ameliorates gross pathological damage in abdominal organs and attenuated radiation-induced intestinal histological damage. Therefore, the combination of PS and MF effectively alleviated radiation-induced intestinal injury in the mouse and minipig models. We believe that the combined use of PS and MF is a promising therapeutic approach for treating radiation-induced intestinal injury.
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