Objectives: To investigate the potential therapeutic benefits of the selective alpha1A/1l-adrenoceptor partial agonist Ro 115-1240 in women with mild-to-moderate stress urinary incontinence (SUI).
Patients and methods: Thirty-seven women with mild-to-moderate SUI were enrolled in a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study. Patients received 1.5 mg Ro 115-1240 twice daily or matching placebo for 2 or 4 weeks. Voiding diaries were used to record the number of SUI episodes, urge incontinence episodes and pads used. Sitting blood pressures and heart rate were recorded at each visit.
Results: Ro 115-1240 was associated with a significantly lower mean weekly number of SUI episodes than placebo (8.4 vs 6.0; P= 0.0079), a 28% relative improvement over placebo. There was also a significantly lower mean number of pads used and wet pads changed/week with Ro 115-1240 than with placebo (P = 0.0055 and 0.0066, respectively). The most frequently reported treatment-emergent adverse events were scalp tingling, headache, chills, piloerection, and pruritus. Generally these events were transient and mild to moderate. There was a slightly lower mean sitting heart rate with Ro 115-1240 than with placebo, but no difference in mean systolic or diastolic blood pressure between treatments.
Conclusions: This study suggests that selective alpha1A/1l-adrenoceptor partial agonists have the potential to improve the symptoms of SUI with little or no cardiovascular effect. These results are encouraging and a randomized controlled trial of Ro 115-1240 in a larger population with SUI is warranted to substantiate these findings.