Introduction: Past research has demonstrated that the urethral tonus is mainly under sympathetic control. Since 5 years, a beta 3-adrenoceptor (ADRB3) agonist is available in the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome. The presence of ADRB3 within the human urethra has not been demonstrated to date. Presence of ADRB3 in the urethra could influence urethral tonus. The aim of this study is to investigate the presence of ADRB3 in the human female urethra.
Material and methods: We performed anatomical studies in five female specimens. Three specimens were obtained from the body donation program, two from female patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, where radical resection of bladder and urethra was performed. The urethra up till the bladder neck was separated from the rest of the bladder and freshly obtained for this study. For demonstrating ADRB3 expression, we used rabbit polyclonal anti-human ADRB3 LS-A4198.
Results: Expression of ADBR3 was demonstrated in the epithelial layer of all urethral parts, except at the level of the meatus. The level of ADRB3 expression was highest in the mid urethra. There was no direct contact between ADRB3 and nerve tissue. ADRB3 expression was also demonstrated in the stratified muscle layer at the level of the external urethral sphincter.
Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate the expression of ADRB3 in the human female urethra. There is an absence of a direct connection between ADRB3 and nerve tissue.
Keywords: beta 3-adrenoceptor; female; microscopy; overactive bladder; urethral function.
© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.