Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a debilitating condition of the lower urinary tract defined as chronic inflammation of the urinary bladder, accompanied by chronic pelvic pain and various urinary symptoms, such as increased frequency of voiding and nocturia. The clinical symptoms of IC are not specific and often overlap with other diseases, so setting the correct diagnosis is often difficult. Due to the unknown pathophysiology of IC, current therapy is symptomatic. Cannabidiol (CBD) is the most common cannabinoid found in hemp (Cannabis sativa L). It is one of the most important pharmacologically active cannabinoids used in medicine, as it has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect and has no psychoactive effects. Due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity and at the same time low systemic toxicity, CBD could potentially be a possible treatment for IC as well. So far, the positive effects of other cannabinoids have been recorded in animal models with IC/BPS, where cannabinoids have successfully alleviated the symptoms of this experimentally induced disease.
The purpose of our research was to determine the effect of CBD on the urinary bladder in mice with experimentally induced interstitial cystitis. We analyzed the impact of CBD on the structure, function, and inflammation of the urinary bladder in mice with IC using various methods (light and electron microscopy, immunolabeling, qPCR, Western blotting, TEER). Microscopic analysis shew that CBD has a positive effect on the restoration of the damaged urothelium and the re-formation of tight junctions, which are crucial for the maintenance of the blood-urine barrier. By measuring the TEER of the urinary bladders, we found out that the barrier function of the urothelium in mice that received CBD was less weakened after the action of CP and consequently less sensitive to the action of PLL compared to the group of mice that received only CP. We shew that CBD has an anti-inflammatory effect on the bladder of mice with induced CP, as it reduces edema in the bladder wall. The results of qPCR and Western blotting shew that CBD in the inflamed bladder decreased CB1R gene expression and increased the amount of CB2R in the bladder wall. Our results indicate the possibility of using CBD as a medicinal agent for the treatment of patients with IC, of course, more reliable conclusions would require further research on a larger number of animals and a detailed analysis of the mechanism of action of CBD in the urinary bladder at the molecular level.
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