Is there a Relationship between Chronic Bladder Dysfunction and Somatic Symptoms in other Body Regions? 2. An Experimental Neuroanatomical Approach

Objective : Based on clinical description of associated dysfunctional symptoms in patients with non-neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction an experimental setup was created in order to investigate the neuroanatomical basis for the clinical phenomena observed. Methods : Using 24 male adult Sprague-Dawley rats for retrograde mapping of the spinal cord and brain, a pseudorabies virus (PRV) tracer was subsequently injected into four pertinent locations; (a) the trigone, (b) the masseter muscle (c) the forepaw and (d) the hindpaw. Results : PRV tracing demonstrated clearly overlapping of labeled areas in the brain stem, diencephalon and thoracic-lumbar cord, from all injection sites of the rats. Conclusion : There is a diffuse overlap within the brain stem and spinal cord, of autonomic innervation to peripheral tissues based on the presented animal experiments. The described autonomic network allows an understanding of the occurrence of symptoms in distant regions of the body associated to chronic bladder dysfunction.