# Bladder, Urethra and Anal Sphincter Reinnervation

> **NIH NIH R01** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2021 · $645,677

## Abstract

Abstract:
The animal studies in this renewal application will parallel the clinical trial studies to further understand the
mechanisms of somatic reinnervation for restoration of bladder emptying function.
Aim 1: Address the following questions:
 • Will administration of growth factors into the reinnervated urinary bladder wall improve recovery?
 • Which are the most effective growth factors to use? Will it be:
 a) Factors produced by the decentralized bladder cells (smooth muscle, intramural ganglia, interstitial,
 urothelial cells),
 b) Factors that promote neonatal survival of bladder spinal motoneurons; or,
 c) Factors that optimally attract the somatic motor fibers from the donor obturator nerve?
 • What growth factors promote functionally optimal afferent reinnervation?
Aim 2: Address the following questions:
 • Is the one anterior vesical branch of the pelvic nerve on each side that is reinnervated by a portion of the
 obturator nerve branch sufficient to achieve effective bladder emptying and sensation?
 • Is the loss of innervation from transecting vesical branches alone enough to result in loss of bladder
 function or this there sufficiently retained innervation through other branches such that the voiding function
 recovers with time?
 • Is the recovery of voiding behavior truly the result of the new neural pathway from the nerve transfer or
 some other spontaneous recovery?
 • Will obturator to anterior branch of the pelvic nerve transfer performed before decentralization improve
 recovery of bladder function?
Aim 3: Answer the following questions using the canine tissue bank accrued from the previous funding cycles
and from the new animals in these proposed studies:
 • What properties have changed in the axotomized motor nerves and how are these altered by rerouting?
 • What types of efferent fibers are reinnervating the bladder from the obturator nerve and on what type of
 cells do these new fibers terminate?
 • Do the new bladder efferent fibers originate from the ventral horn, sympathetic chain ganglia or both?
 • What types of afferent fibers are growing into the bladder from the obturator nerve and what are their en-
 organ targets? Is it urothelium, intramural ganglia, muscles, or blood vessels?

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10212464
- **Project number:** 5R01NS070267-12
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Mary F Barbe
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $645,677
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2010-05-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10212464

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10212464, Bladder, Urethra and Anal Sphincter Reinnervation (5R01NS070267-12). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10212464. Licensed CC0.

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