Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Depression: A Review.

Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) are frequently present in the general population as patients age with approximately a third of individuals experiencing LUTS during their lifetime. LUTS can be further defined as having any of the following symptoms: urinary hesitancy, straining, nocturia, increased urination frequency, and dysuria. LUTS has the potential for patients to contribute their symptoms to what can normally occur as we age. This can lead to a decrease in patients seeking care and could negatively impact patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL). In conjunction with LUTS, we obtained from our analysis that LUTS and depression are closely related and worsening depressive symptoms may increase the severity of LUTS. We also discerned three categories of factors that can yield major depression namely adversity, internalizing, and externalizing factors. Within these categories, trauma, social support, genetic factors, and minimal education appeared to increase the risk of depression in patients. With the recent increase in mental health awareness and more access to mental health care amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, further screening, and collaboration between providers to treat both urological and psychiatric symptoms could improve patient outcomes. It is important for providers to have an increased understanding of the mental and physical impact both LUTS and depression can have on patients' wellbeing. This has the potential to help patients be more open about their symptoms with the aim of better addressing LUTS and depression to positively impact their HRQL.

Histopathological evidence that diethylene glycol produces kidney and nervous system damage in rats.

Diethylene glycol (DEG) is an organic compound that has been found as an adulterant in consumer products as a counterfeit glycerin. Diethylene glycol is metabolized to two primary metabolites: 2-hydroxyethoxyacetic acid (2-HEAA) and diglycolic acid (DGA), the latter shown to accumulate in the kidney and cause dose-dependent cell necrosis. DEG poisonings are characterized predominately by acute kidney injury (AKI) but have also produced delayed neurological sequelae such as sensorimotor neuropathy. To better understand these effects, Wistar-Han rats were orally administered a water control or doses of 4 g/kg-6 g/kg DEG every 12 or 24 h for 7 days, with kidney, brain, and spinal cord tissue collected for histopathological analysis. This dosing paradigm resulted in approximately 25 % of the DEG-treated animals developing AKI and also neurotoxicity (sensorimotor dysfunction and elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein). Kidney pathology included a severe, diffuse acute kidney tubular necrosis predominantly affecting proximal convoluted tubules. Scattered birefringent crystals consistent with calcium oxalate monohydrate were also found in the proximal tubule of animals with AKI. Demyelination in the dorsal and lateral white matter regions of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar areas of the spinal cord of a DEG-treated animal with AKI was documented, establishing the neuropathology in DEG-treated animals that developed neurotoxicity. There were significant changes in amino acid concentrations in the CSF that may reflect the neurotoxicity of DEG, specifically glutamate and glutamine, but with no ammonia change. These studies characterized the pathologic aspects of the neurotoxicity in a DEG repeat-dose model.