Gene expression profile of bladder tissue of patients with ulcerative interstitial cystitis

Interstitial cystitis (IC), a chronic bladder disease with an increasing incidence, is diagnosed using subjective symptoms in combination with cystoscopic and histological evidence. The ultimate goal is the development of a diagnostic assay for IC on a molecular level. By cystoscopic examination, IC can be classified into an ulcerative and a non-ulcerative subtype. To better understand this debilitating disease on a molecular level, a comparative gene expression profile of bladder biopsies from patients with ulcerative IC and control patients has been performed. Candidate marker genes for ulcerative IC were identified. Five IC patients and six control patients ("healthy") have been selected for the study. All IC patients had Hunner's ulcers and, with the exception of one person, also glomerulations, whereas the control group did not show these cystoscopic findings. From each IC patient, two bladder biopsies were analyzed, one from an ulcer area (“ulcus”), and one from a non-ulcer area (“ni”).