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Dönmez Mİ, İnci K, Zeybek ND, Doğan HS, Ergen A. The Early Histological Effects of Intravesical Instillation of Platelet-Rich Plasma in Cystitis Models. Int Neurourol J. 2016 Sep;20(3):188-196. Epub 2016 Sep 23.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a unique medical procedure that’s most often used for wound and soft tissue healing. In the procedure, the patient’s own blood is withdrawn and centrifuged to isolate a portion of the patient’s blood that is very rich in platelets. That extract is then injected back into the wound tissue. In this very preliminary study, investigators wanted to find out if the PRP technique also could be an effective treatment for interstitial cystitis (IC) or hemorrhagic cystitis, using rabbits as a model. The study included rabbits experimentally given an induced form of cystitis and treated with PRP, while other rabbits did not receive PRP and served as controls. They found that mitotic index (a method for measuring cell proliferation) was increased in the rabbits who received PRP. They also found that the treatment reduced visible bleeding. These results are promising and suggests that PRP could be a potential alternative treatment for IC/BPS. However, this is a very early study and its results would need to be confirmed in subsequent studies of other animal models and humans before it could be considered as an alternate treatment option.