Current analgesic treatments for Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS) are limited. Here, we propose a novel antinociceptive strategy exploiting the opioid-mediated analgesic properties of T lymphocytes to relieve from bladder pain. In a chronic model of IC/BPS in rats, we show that a secondary T cell response against intravesically administered ovalbumin prevents from visceral pain in OVA-primed animals. The analgesic effect is associated with the recruitment of T lymphocytes within the inflamed mucosa and is reversed by naloxone-methiodide, a peripheral opioid receptor antagonist. Similarly, intravesical instillation of BCG or tetanus toxoid antigens in vaccinated rats protects from pain in the same model. We show opioid-dependent analgesic properties of local vaccine antigen recall in a preclinical rat model of chronic cystitis. Since BCG bladder instillation is regularly used in humans (as anticancer therapy), our results open it as a new therapeutic positioning for a pain management indication for IC/BPS patients.
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland). 2021 Mar 08*** epublish ***
Céline Augé, Lilian Basso, Catherine Blanpied, Nathalie Vergnolle, Xavier Gamé, Sophie Chabot, Philippe Lluel, Gilles Dietrich
Urosphere, Department of Pain and Inflammation, Toulouse, France., IRSD, Université de Toulouse, INSERM, INRA, ENVT, UPS, Toulouse, France., Urology Department, Rangueil University Hospital, Toulouse, France.