Urinary bladder post-spinal cord injury: time-points

Previously, we demonstrated using a rat model of spinal cord injury (SCI) that bladder wall tissue compliance significantly increased within the first 2 weeks following injury. In order to explore the potential molecular-level mechanisms of this event, the present study quantified molecules pertinent to bladder tissue remodeling and changes in mechanical properties. An initial gene array analysis followed by real-time qPCR revealed that the message levels for tropoelastin and lysyl oxidase were as high as 8-fold in SCI rats compared to normal. Furthermore, both the message and protein levels of TGF-beta1 and IGF-1, known stimulators of elastin synthesis, in SCI rat bladders were significantly higher compared to those of normal rats. Taken together, it can be speculated that functional changes of the bladder associated with SCI induce release of select growth factors, which, in turn, stimulate elastogenesis that lead to alteration of biomechanical properties of the wall tissue. One bladder in each of the four groups. One normal control, one 3 days post-SCI, one 7 days, and one 25 days. Only one sample per group for initial screening analysis. The microarray data was used in an additional study using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis to elucidate remodeling, inflammation and infection events.