Genetics and Phenotyping of Urological Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome

Purpose: Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome, collectively renamed urological chronic pelvic pain syndromes, are a group of medically unexplained physical symptoms. Diagnosis depends on excluding all possible causes of pain and treatment targets symptoms alone. An emerging body of research implicates systemic factors in the pathogenesis of urological chronic pelvic pain syndromes including abnormal sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Several new lines of evidence also suggest a genetic component to disease pathogenesis. Despite ongoing efforts, neither effective treatments nor mechanistic understanding of the pathogenesis of urological chronic pelvic pain syndromes exists.Materials and Methods: We performed a survey of the available literature on urological chronic pelvic pain syndromes. We reviewed recent research implicating genetic mechanisms in the development of urological chronic pelvic pain synd...