Bladder Ultrastructure and Urinary Cytokine Abnormality in Patients with Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection and the Changes after Intravesical Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections

Abstract

This study investigates the bladder from patients with recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) at baseline and after intravesical platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. Patients with rUTI who underwent repeated intravesical PRP injections provided bladder and urine specimens at baseline and after treatment. Bladder specimens were investigated with electron microscopy and Western blotting. The urine sample was analyzed with commercially available Milliplex immunoassays. A total of 29 patients were enrolled. At baseline, the rUTI bladders exhibited defects of integrity in umbrella cells, a widened tight junction, and lysed organelles. Intracellular bacterial community incubations in the epithelial cells were also noted. Improvement in bladder defects after PRP injection was noted in 25–42% of patients. Bladder UPK3 expression was significantly lower in the patients with rUTI than in controls. Baseline levels of urinary inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor were higher in the patients with rUTI than in the controls, but there were lower levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and nerve growth factor. In the patients with rUTI who recovered from acute infection, the bladders still had immature urothelium, various ultrastructural defects, and elevated urinary inflammatory cytokines. PRP injection has the potential to promote bladder recovery in some of these patients.