Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Proteomics Overview

Abstract

Proteomics research offers one strategy to elucidate the etiology of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) by identification of a significant and sufficient number of proteins, which provides the ability to avoid a preselection of candidate proteins for a possible early detection of the SUI. SUI represents both a psychological as well as an economic burden, and prevalence rates are expected to increase in the future, due to increasing of life expectancy. The classical epidemiology of SUI is well understood, with many environmental and lifestyle risk factors identified, including age, obesity, parity, vaginal delivery, and family history. Despite this, much of the etiology of SUI remains unclear, and it is difficult to predict which women are at risk. This chapter shows some results based on proteomic analysis of the urine proteome, which might give the answer to the question on pathways activated in SUI. Besides proteins originating from the blood, urine contains proteins secreted from the inner wall of the bladder and the urethra, and these proteins might explain the processes involved in genesis of SUI.