Recent evidence revealed that Hunner-type
interstitial cystitis (HIC) is a robust inflammatory disease potentially associated with enhanced immune responses and histologically characterized by epithelial denudation and lymphoplasmacytic infiltration with frequent clonal expansion of infiltrating B cells. To date, few animal models that reproduce the histological and clinical correlates of HIC have yet been established. In the present study, we aimed to develop a novel animal model for HIC via autoimmunity to the bladder urothelium using the transgenic mouse model (URO-OVA) that expresses the membrane form of the model
antigen ovalbumin (OVA) as a
self-antigen on the bladder urothelium. OVA-specific lymphocytes (splenocytes) were generated by immunization of C57BL/6 mice with OVA
protein and injected intravenously into URO-OVA mice. The splenocytes from OVA-immunized C57BL/6 mice showed increased
interferon (IFN)-γ production in response to OVA stimulation in vitro. URO-OVA mice adoptively transferred with OVA-primed splenocytes developed
cystitis exhibiting histological chronic inflammatory changes such as remarkable mononuclear cell infiltration predominantly composed of T and B lymphocytes, increased vascularity, and mucosal
hyperemia in the bladder at days 7-28 with a peak at day 21 tested. No systemic
inflammation was found in
cystitis-induced URO-OVA mice, nor was any
inflammation found in wild-type C57BL/6 mice adoptively transferred with OVA-primed splenocytes. Along with bladder
inflammation, URO-OVA mice demonstrated significantly increased pelvic nociceptive responses, voiding dysfunction, and upregulated
mRNA expression levels for IFN-γ,
tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and
substance P precursor in the bladder. This model reproduces the histological and clinical features of human HIC, providing a novel model for HIC research.