Unraveling the nature of oxidative stress: a study of diagnostic and pathophysiological biomarkers in women with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS)

Bladder pain syndrome (BPS) or interstitial cystitis (IC)  is an umbrella term  for a group of chronic, incapacitating illnesses that cause lower urinary tract hypersensitivity symptoms and poor quality of life in women  with interstitial cystitis.  Research indicates that the true prevalence of IC/BPS is between 3% and 7%, notwithstanding the difficulty in determining this due to the heterogeneous classifications and nomenclature.  Oxidative stress biomarkers may be utilized as a diagnostic tool for IC/BPS, and urine oxidative stress may also play a role in the pathophysiology of IC/BPS.Therefore, we aim to determine the levels of oxidative stress markers like:malondialdhyde (MDA)(lipid peroxidation marker),protein carbonyl(PC)(protein oxidation marker) and nitric oxide (NO) in urine samples of our study group of women with IC/BPS. The study included 14 women with non ulcerative IClBPS, and the control group included 25 healthy individual females Urine samples were collected in sterile tubes and left to clot at room temperature, then the tubes were centrifuged at 2000-3000 RPM for 10 minutes then the supernatant was collected carefully, and the levels of MDA,PC, and NO were measured by spectrophotometric  method. Our results showed that urine Protein carbonyl and urine malondialdehyde were not different between IC/PBS participants and controls, and urine nitric oxide was low in non ulcerative IC/BPS.