Improves symptoms and urinary biomarkers in refractory interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome patients randomized to extracorporeal shock wave therapy versus placebo

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has been shown to improve symptoms in patients with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS); however, there is a lack of objective evidence. We measured change of urinary biomarker levels in 25 patients with IC/BPS received ESWT or placebo once a week for 4 weeks. Urines were collected from participants at baseline, 4 and 12 weeks post treatment. A representative 41 inflammatory growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines in urine were measured using a MILLIPLEX immunoassay kit. Symptom bother was assessed by O’Leary-Sant symptom scores (OSS), and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain. The ESWT group exhibited a significant reduction in the OSS and VAS compared to the placebo group 4 weeks post-treatment (P < 0.05), and the effects were persistent at 12 weeks. The difference in urinary markers change in ESWT versus placebo was P = 0.054 for IL4, P = 0.013 for VEGF, and P = 0.039 for IL9 at 4 weeks. The change of urine biomarker was not significant in other biomarkers or all the measured proteins at 12 weeks. The current data suggest that IL4, IL9, and VEGF mediation may be involved in its pathophysiologic mechanisms and response to LESW treatment.