Bladder: Major Pathologies

Bladder pathologies often involve injury and dysfunction of the smooth muscle of the bladder as well as its nerve supply. Stem cell therapy for bladder pathology is directed toward regeneration of functional muscle and nerves to restore bladder function. There are also treatments using stem cells that take advantage of other specific properties that stem cells possess. Currently, many alternative treatments exist for these bladder pathologies, but, the goal of stem cell therapy research is to reduce the adverse effects of treatment and to reduce cost. Many of the pathologies described below have suboptimal treatments. Without treating the conditions described, one risks complications, such as urinary tract infections or loss of urinary continence.

Stem cells begin by migrating to the injured tissue, such as the bladder. ...