The association between overactive bladder (OAB) and uterine prolapse remains unclear. The extent of the role of serum nerve growth factor (NGF) levels in this relationship is also not known. Therefore, our study evaluated the association among OAB, high-grade uterine prolapse and serum NGF levels.
A total of 90 patients participated in our study and were grouped as follows. Group I included patients with high-grade uterine prolapse and OAB, group II included patients with only high-grade uterine prolapse, and group III included healthy women without uterine prolapse or OAB. Serum NGF level analysis was performed in all groups.
Serum NGF levels varied greatly among the three groups, with significantly higher levels in group 1 than in groups 2 and 3 (p < 0.001). Serum NGF levels with a cutoff point of 120.49 pg/ml identified women with significant OAB symptoms to discriminate among groups with a sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 86.7%, positive predictive value of 75.0%, negative predictive value of 89.7% and positive likelihood ratio of 6.01 (p < 0.001).
Our study showed that NGF-related pathways may play an active role in the pathophysiology of OAB with high-grade uterine prolapse patients based on obstruction hypothesis.
International urogynecology journal. 2020 May 22 [Epub ahead of print]
Şükrü Yildiz, Hüseyin Cengiz, Alev Kural, Cihan Kaya, İsmail Alay, Murat Ekin
University of Health Sciences Istanbul, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 34180, Istanbul, Turkey. ., Istanbul Aydin University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 34140, Istanbul, Turkey., University of Health Sciences Istanbul, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Deparment of Biochemistry, 34180, Istanbul, Turkey., University of Health Sciences Istanbul, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 34180, Istanbul, Turkey.