Objective: To characterize and quantify periurethral tissue sulphated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in women with and without pelvic organ prolapse.
Study design: Periurethral tissue was obtained from 35 women who underwent surgery for pelvic organ prolapse, for stress urinary incontinence, or for other gynecological benign conditions. Patients were submitted to a clinical history, physical and urodynamic examination and were divided in two groups according to genital prolapse. The standard biopsy with 1.0 x 1.0 cm was taken from periurethral tissue during surgery and assessed by biochemical methods. The GAGs were obtained by proteolysis and precipitated by trichloroacetic acid. The relative concentration of sulfated GAGs was determined by densitometry of toluidine blue stained gel using a spectrophotometer with a 525 nm wavelength. Data were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Results: In the two groups dermatan sulphate (DS) was the predominant glycosaminoglycan (85%), followed by chondroitin sulphate (CS) and heparan sulphate (HS). Women with pelvic organ prolapse had significantly more total GAGs, DS and HS. Differences in CS were not observed.
Conclusions: This study showed altered biochemical characteristics in the extracellular matrix of periurethral tissue and also accumulation of GAGs, DS and CS, in women with pelvic organ prolapse.