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Podium
Michael Chancellor, MD
Professor of Urology
Beaumont Health
Introduction: Interstitial Cystitis (IC) has significant unmet clinical need, including the lack of an objective diagnostic laboratory test, such as a urine-based biomarker. We have previously reported our initial development of a machine-learning-based diagnostic score using 4 urinary cytokines: GRO, IL-6, IL-8, & MCP-1. As part of our development of a diagnostic tool for IC, we collected urine samples from confusable diseases, such as Overactive Bladder (OAB), Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), and Bladder Cancer. We sought to understand if there were differences in urinary cytokine concentration between diseases.
Methods: Participants at two clinical sites completed a demographics survey, a bladder survey, and provided a urine sample in a collection cup containing a room-temperature urine preservative. Participants were divided into the following categories based on physician-documented diagnosis: control, IC, OAB with incontinence), UTI, and Bladder Cancer. Urinary cytokine concentrations were measured via Luminex multiplex assay.
Results: 266 urine samples were collected from both clinical sites. ANOVA with multiple comparisons test revealed no significant difference in urinary cytokine concentration between the 5 groups.
Conclusions: Our study demonstrated urinary proinflammatory cytokines are elevated in IC, OAB, UTI and bladder cancer versus normal control. The UTI group has the highest concentration of GRO (CXCL1), a chemokine that acts as a chemoattractant, especially neutrophiles to the site of infection. The bladder cancer group had the highest concentration of IL-8, which plays an important role in inflammation and has also been implicated in bladder cancer via secretion by neoplastic cells. MCP-1 (CCL2) had the least separation among the control group and the various bladder diseases. Comparing and contrasting urinary cytokines may help improve our understanding these important bladder diseases with great unmet needs.
Source of Funding: This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Technology/Therapeutic Development Research Program under Award No. W81XWH-19-1-0288. The opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.