From bladder to systemic syndrome: concept and treatment evolution of interstitial cystitis

Interstitial cystitis, presently known as bladder pain syndrome, has been recognized for over a century but is still far from being understood.

Its etiology is unknown and the syndrome probably harbors different diseases. Autoimmune dysfunction, urothelial leakage, infection, central and peripheral nervous system dysfunction, genetic disease, childhood trauma/abuse, and subsequent stress response system dysregulation might be implicated. Management is slowly evolving from a solo act by the end-organ specialist to a team approach based on new typing and phenotyping of the disease.

However, oral and invasive treatments are still largely aimed at the bladder and are based on currently proposed pathophysiologic mechanisms. Future research will better define the disease, permitting individualization of treatment.

Int J Womens Health. 2015 Jul 23;7:735-44. doi: 10.2147/IJWH.S60798. eCollection 2015.

Dinis S1, de Oliveira JT2, Pinto R3, Cruz F3, Buffington CT4, Dinis P3.

1 Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital de São João, Porto, Portugal.
2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, ULHT, Lisbon, Portugal ; Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology (IPATIMUP), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
3 Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; Department of Urology, Hospital de São João, Porto, Portugal.
4 Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, OH, USA.