Chinese botulinum toxin A for the treatment of lower urinary tract dysfunction: It works just as well.

The botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A) is a neurotoxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. It causes botulism and represents the most powerful natural poison. In urological practice, the indications for BoNT/A therapy include neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO), idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB) or idiopathic detrusor overactivity (IDO), detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia (DSD), interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), urinary tract infections (UTI), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and, more recently, chronic prostatic pain (CPP). BoNT/A is not only conducive to the treatment of muscle spasticity but also effectively works on hyperalgesia associated with various disorders of the lower urinary tract, thanks to its anti-nociceptive properties. While Botox® (Allergan Inc., Irvine, CA) is currently being used across the globe, we have been using Chinese BoNT/A for many years for the treatment of DSD, NDO, idiopathic OAB, IC/BPS, BPH and UTI. Our experience showed that Chinese BoNT/A was as good as other BoNT/A products in terms of efficacy, safety, and tolerability. In this study, we explored the current and potential applications of Chinese BoNT/A in urology, and reviewed the background information regarding the toxin.

Bladder (San Francisco, Calif.). 2022 Sep 14*** epublish ***

Fan Zhang, Qinggang Liu, Limin Liao, Xiaojuan Li, Xueping Zhang

Department of Urology, China Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100068, China., Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China., Lanzhou Institute of Biological Products, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, China.