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Urinary Markers Could Help Confirm Diagnosis of IC/BPS
Grigorescu B, Powers K, Lazarou G. Update on Urinary Tract Markers in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome. Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg. 2016 Jan-Feb;22(1):16-23. doi: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000000224.
The optimal method for definitively diagnosing interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) remains to be defined. Accordingly, there is great interest in identifying urinary markers that might help clinicians verify the diagnosis. This article provides a review of urinary markers that may have potential usefulness in the diagnosis or confirmation of IC/BPS. A wide variety of potential markers seem to correlate with the clinical diagnosis of IC/BPS, but to varying degrees. These markers include nitric oxide, inflammatory mediators, proteoglycans, urinary hexosamines, proliferative factors, BK polyomavirus family, and urothelial proinflammatory gene analysis. According to the authors of this review, the most promising urinary biomarker at the moment is antiproliferative factor, a sialoglycopeptide that inhibits proliferation of urothelial cells, and seems to be highly correlated with IC/BPS clinical findings and symptoms.