PMID- 22654715 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE DCOM- 20120823 LR - 20211021 IS - 1875-6190 (Electronic) IS - 1570-159X (Print) IS - 1570-159X (Linking) VI - 9 IP - 4 DP - 2011 Dec TI - Neurotrophins in the lower urinary tract: becoming of age. PG - 553-8 LID - 10.2174/157015911798376253 [doi] AB - The lower urinary tract (LUT) comprises a storage unit, the urinary bladder, and an outlet, the urethra. The coordination between the two structures is tightly controlled by the nervous system and, therefore, LUT function is highly susceptible to injuries to the neuronal pathways involved in micturition control. These injuries may include lesions to the spinal cord or to nerve fibres and result in micturition dysfunction. A common trait of micturition pathologies, irrespective of its origin, is an upregulation in synthesis and secretion of neurotrophins, most notably Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) and Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). These neurotrophins are produced by neuronal and non-neuronal cells and exert their effects upon binding to their high-affinity receptors abundantly expressed in the neuronal circuits regulating LUT function. In addition, NGF and BDNF are present in detectable amounts in the urine of patients suffering from various LUT pathologies, suggesting that analysis of urinary NGF and BDNF may serve as likely biomarkers to be studied in tandem with other factors when diagnosing patients. Studies with experimental models of bladder dysfunction using antagonists of NGF and BDNF receptors as well as scavenging agents suggest that those NTs may be key elements in the pathophysiology of bladder dysfunctions. In addition, available data indicates that NGF and BDNF might constitute future targets for designing new drugs for better treatment of bladder dysfunction. FAU - Frias, Barbara AU - Frias B AD - Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Medicine of Porto, Alameda Hernani Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal. FAU - Lopes, Tiago AU - Lopes T FAU - Pinto, Rui AU - Pinto R FAU - Cruz, Francisco AU - Cruz F FAU - Cruz, Celia Duarte AU - Cruz CD LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - United Arab Emirates TA - Curr Neuropharmacol JT - Current neuropharmacology JID - 101157239 PMC - PMC3263451 OTO - NOTNLM OT - BDNF OT - LUT. OT - NGF OT - Trk receptors OT - bladder EDAT- 2012/06/02 06:00 MHDA- 2012/06/02 06:01 PMCR- 2012/06/01 CRDT- 2012/06/02 06:00 PHST- 2010/06/16 00:00 [received] PHST- 2010/07/19 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2010/07/19 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2012/06/02 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2012/06/02 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2012/06/02 06:01 [medline] PHST- 2012/06/01 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - CN-9-553 [pii] AID - 10.2174/157015911798376253 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Curr Neuropharmacol. 2011 Dec;9(4):553-8. doi: 10.2174/157015911798376253.