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The Effect of Age on the Autonomic Innervation of the Urinary Bladder
Author(s) -
GILPIN S. A.,
GILPIN C. J.,
DIXON J. S.,
GOSLING J. A.,
KIRBY R. S.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
british journal of urology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1464-410X
pISSN - 0007-1331
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-410x.1986.tb09089.x
Subject(s) - acetylcholinesterase , autonomic nerve , axon , medicine , detrusor muscle , urinary bladder , aché , biopsy , reduction (mathematics) , anatomy , urinary system , autonomic nervous system , ultrastructure , electron microscope , urology , pathology , biology , biochemistry , heart rate , physics , geometry , mathematics , blood pressure , optics , enzyme
Summary— Quantitative methods have been used to assess the amount of autonomic nerve in bladder biopsy samples from a group of “control” patients ranging in age from 20 to 79 years. Each patient included in the study was urodynamically normal and showed no subjective evidence of bladder trabeculation at cystoscopy. Using light microscopy, a significant linear reduction in the amount of acetylcholinesterase‐positive nerve was observed with increasing age. Counts of axon profiles and measurement of smooth muscle cell cross‐sectional areas in the electron microscope revealed a similar reduction in the amount of nerve per mm 2 of detrusor muscle tissue. These findings thus confirm that a real reduction in the number of nerve axons occurs with age and the light microscope results are not due merely to a reduction in the amount of nerve‐associated acetylcholinesterase. The present study provides baseline data for future comparisons of the density of autonomic innervation in bladders which are functionally impaired.