Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the histological changes of vaginal mucosa innervation in stress urinary incontinence (SUI), to determine the alteration that contributed to them.
Methods: Biopsy specimens of anterior vaginal wall were obtained from 56 subjects during operation, which belonged to one of the 3 groups: SUI (15 cases), POP (23 cases) and asymptomatic control (15 cases). Using immunohistochemical method we could semiquantitatively determine the expression of neurofilament (NF) in vaginal mucosa as the distribution of the nerve terminals.
Results: There were brown-stained nerve fibers in the lamina propria. According to the expression staging (-, +, ++, +++), the number of patients was 6, 5, 4, 0 cases in SUI group, 17, 5, 1, 0 cases in POP group, and 3, 2, 4, 6 cases in control group, respectively. There was significant difference between SUI group and control group in the expression of NF (P < 0.05) and the expression of nerve fiber had no correlation with the clinical severity and leak point pressure (LPP) in SUI group (P > 0.05). The expression of NF in POP group was also weaker than control.
Conclusion: The SUI group had a significant less total innervation of vaginal mucosa than asymptomatic controls, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of SUI.