Abstract
AIMS: Diabetes is associated with both dysfunction of the lower urinary tract (LUT) and overactivity of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Although it is well known that the RAS affects normal LUT function, very little is known about RAS effects on the diabetic LUT. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of chronic angiotensin II (AngII) treatment on the LUT in a model of type 1 diabetes. METHODS: Ins2(Akita) diabetic mice (20 weeks old) and their age-matched background controls underwent conscious cystometric evaluation after 4 weeks of chronic AngII treatment (700 ng/kg/min by osmotic pump) or vehicle (saline). RESULTS: Diabetic mice had compensated LUT function with bladder hypertrophy. Specifically, micturition volume, residual volume, and bladder capacity were all increased, while voiding efficiency and pressure generation were unchanged as bladder mass, contraction duration, and phasic urethral function were increased. AngII significantly increased voiding efficiency and peak voiding pressure and decreased phasic frequency irrespective of diabetic state and, in diabetic but not normoglycemic control mice, significantly decreased residual volume and increased contraction duration and nonphasic contraction duration. CONCLUSIONS: The Ins2(Akita) diabetic mice had compensated LUT function at 20 weeks of age. Even under these conditions, AngII had beneficial effects on LUT function, resulting in increased voiding efficiency. Future studies should therefore be conducted to determine whether AngII can rescue the decompensated LUT function occurring in end-stage diabetic uropathy.