The role of nitric oxide in bladder urothelial injury after bladder outlet obstruction

Abstract

There was overexpression of iNOS by activated macrophages in the early stages of BOO. This overexpression did not induce apoptosis in the iNOS-expressing cells of bladder mucosa in the early stages. After long-term BOO bladder mucosa showed strong eNOS and nNOS immunoreactivity, correlating with apoptosis. Thus we suggest that eNOS and nNOS, by triggering cell death, may be important in eliminating hyperplastic urothelial cells, reflecting the plasticity of the bladder response to obstructive stimuli.