Diagnosis of interstitial cystitis
US6376197B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 22, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 23, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 22, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2800/348
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a chronic bladder disease for which the exact etiology is unknown and for which there is no reliably effective treatment. However, it is known that the bladder epithelium is often abnormal in IC. We discovered that normal, adult, human bladder epithelial cells are inhibited from proliferating by an anti-proliferative factor (APF) present in IC urine specimens. Inhibited proliferation may cause epithelial abnormalities characteristic of IC such as ulcerations and multiple tears in the bladder epithelium. We further discovered that levels of heparin binding—epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF), a factor known be important for epithelial cell proliferation and wound healing in other tissues, are abnormally low in the urine of patients suffering from IC as compared to asymptomatic controls or patients with acute bacterial cystitis. The invention herein is directed to the use of urine levels of HB-EGF as a diagnostic marker for IC.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.