Objectives: To establish an in vivo model to screen new muscarinic antagonists for the treatment of overactive urinary bladder and to calculate the respective ID(50) values.
Methods: The conscious rat cystometry model was modified to determine a complete dose-response curve in each animal. Spontaneous micturition was induced by infusion of room-temperature saline into rat bladders at a constant rate of 12 mL/hr. Cumulative doses of muscarinic antagonists administered in the femoral vein caused dose-dependent inhibition of the urinary bladder contraction measured as the micturition pressure. In addition, the in vitro pK(B) values for atropine, PNU-200577 (DD01), tolterodine, oxybutynin, and terodiline were determined in carbachol-contracted rat bladder strips.
Results: The rank order of the in vivo ID(50) values were atropine (14 +/- 4 nmol/kg), PNU-200577 (22 +/- 12 nmol/kg), tolterodine (94 +/- 20 nmol/kg), oxybutynin (175 +/- 89 nmol/kg), darifenacin (236 +/- 144 nmol/kg), desethyloxybutynin (313 +/- 209 nmol/kg), propiverine (4561 +/- 2079 nmol/kg), and terodiline (18,339 +/- 5348 nmol/kg). Tolterodine and PNU-200577 caused a parallel shift of the in vitro concentration-response curve to the right and did not alter the maximal contraction. The ID(50) values correlated significantly with the in vitro rat pK(B) and human bladder pA(2) values.
Conclusions: The present results suggest that the rat cystometry model can be used in in vivo screening for new muscarinic antagonists.