Protective Role of Quercetin (Phytochemical) Against Water Avoidance Stress Induced Interstitial Cystitis of Adult Female Albino Rats Light and Electron Microscopic Study

Introduction: Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the urinary bladder, its cause is unknown. It is believed not to be caused by bacteria and does not respond to antibiotic therapy, it has been proved to be caused by stress. It affect people of any race, age and sex, more women than men suffer from this condition. Oral therapy utilizing quercetin (naturally occurring compound widely distributed in the plant kingdom specially in apple, onion, tea and berries) recently proved to be clinically effective in relieving the symptoms of this disease. This research aimed to study the protective effect of quercetin on the urinary bladder mucosa of the experimentally induced IC in rats by exposing them to water avoidance stress (WAS) which has been shown to induce IC. Materials and Methods: 32 adult female albino rats were divided into four groups (8 animals each). Animals of group I were exposed to WAS 2 h daily for 5 days. In group II, 50 mg/kg quercetin was given orally to the animals before exposing them to WAS. Animals of group III were given the same dose of quercetin without exposing them to WAS. Animals of group IV were served as control animals. At the end of the experiment, urinary bladder samples were taken and prepared to be examined by light, transmission and scanning electron microscopes. Results: In group I, urothelium showed ulcerated areas, vacuoles formation, degenerated mitochondria and dilatation in the intercellular spaces were observed. Lamina propria showed dilated blood vessels and interstitial mononuclear inflammatory cell, increased number of mast cells in the mucosa was also observed. In group II, relatively normal urothelial topography, regular tight junctions and a few number of mast cells in the mucosa was observed. Conclusions: The results of the present study demonstrated that, quercetin has protective effects on IC which induced by stress, as the morphology changes which induced in bladder mucosa were all improved by quercetin utilization.