Relaxant effects of potassium-channel openers on normal and hyper-reflexic detrusor muscle

Objective: To compare the effects of the potassium-channel openers, levcromakalim and YM934, in isolated human detrusor muscle from normal and hyper-reflexic bladders. Materials and methods: Strips of human detrusor muscle from normal and hyper-reflexic bladder were precontracted with carbachol and the potassium-channel openers (0.1-0.3 μmol/L) were added cumulatively to the organ baths. Other strips were field-stimulated at frequencies producing 25% and 75% of the maximum response to field stimulation. Contractions could be abolished by atropine (10 μmol/L) and tetrodotoxin (1 μmol/L). Results: The hyper-reflexic bladder was significantly more sensitive to carbachol than the normal bladder but the maximum response was significantly lower in the hyper-reflexic tissue. There was no significant difference between the potency of the potassium-channel openers in normal and hyper-reflexic detrusor muscle. Hyper-reflexic bladder was significantly more sensitive to electrical field stimulation than was normal bladder; maximum responses to field stimulation were not significantly different. Concentration-response curves for the potassium-channel openers were displaced to the left in hyper-reflexic bladder at both 25% and 75% maximum frequencies; however, only with levcromakalim at 75% of the maximum frequency was the shift significant. Conclusion: The greater sensitivity of hyper-reflexic bladder to carbachol and field stimulation supports existing evidence for post-junctional supersensitivity in detrusor instability. The results of this study also suggest that there are no appreciable changes in K(ATP) channel function in the unstable bladder.