Evidence for Urothelial Cell Activation in Interstitial Cystitis

AbstractBladder biopsy samples from 17 interstitial cystitis patients and 20 controls were evaluated for urothelial cell activation using a panel of monoclonal antibodies to HLA-DR, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, interleukin 1 α and tumor necrosis factor α. Urothelial cells in the majority (13 of 16, 81%) of the biopsies from patients with interstitial cystitis showed increased expression of HLA- DR, while fewer samples were positive for intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (3 of 16, 19%), interleukin 1 α (2 of 17, 12%) or tumor necrosis factor α (1 of 15, 7%). No urothelial cell expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1, interleukin 1 α or tumor necrosis factor α was detected in the controls, and only 1 of 20 control samples contained HLA-DR positive urothelial cells. These results suggest that an unusual type of cellular activation is present in interstitial cystitis. In vitro studies with cultured normal urothelial cells indicated that cells activated with γ interferon and tumor necrosis factor ...