ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Although there is no favoring etiology and no definitive treatment modality for interstitial cystitis(IC), the search for the cause of IC continues in hope of identifying a target for treatment. Recently nitric oxide(NO) is speculated to be associated with the pathogenesis and the treatment of IC. But, the exact mechanisms are poorly known and the experimental and clinical data about NO in IC are conflicting. We attempted to determine that urine NO level evaluated in patients with interstitial cystitis(IC) and compared with those from control patients with bacterial cystitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty six patients were involved in this study, including control 22, patients with IC 8, patients with bacterial cystitis 17, and recovery state from bacterial cystitis 8. Urine samples were collected by clean-catch midstream in men and from urethral catheterization in women. Urinary nitrite which was considered to be an urinary NO in this study was measured by Titerek Multiscan MCC/340 ELISA reader. RESULTS: Urinary NO levels were 6.16+/-1.09 pM/mg.creatinine in control, 5.15+/-0.87 pM/mg.creatinine in IC, 79.58+/-24.69 pM/mg. creatinine in bacterial cystitis, and 32.96+/-8.38 pM/mg.creatinine in recovery state from bacterial cystitis, respectively. Urinary NO levels in bacterial cystitis and recovery state from bacterial cystitis were significantly higher than those in control and IC(p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Urinary NO in bacterial cystitis was higher than that in control and maintained for some period. Urinary NO in IC was lower than that in bacterial cystitis.