University of Iowa medical researchers received a five-year, $4.8 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Karl Kreder, MD, MBA, FACS, urologist, and the grant principal investigator at UI Hospitals and Clinics, talks about the grant, the largest received by the UI Department of Urology.
What medical condition will the NIH grant study in the next five years?
This grant is intended to study the condition known as interstitial cystitis, sometimes we’ll also refer to it as painful bladder syndrome.
What is interstitial cystitis and what symptoms are commonly related to it?
Interstitial cystitis is first and foremost a painful condition that involves the bladder. It’s thought to have at least some inflammatory component. The other symptoms that are common are urinary frequency, urgency, and nocturia, or having to get up multiple times at night.
How common is interstitial cystitis?
It’s actually very common. In fact, a recent study estimated that as many as 1.3 million Americans may have it.
Who is typically affected by this bladder condition?
The condition is much more common in women. About 90 percent of cases are in women.
What will the NIH grant allow you to explore with regard to interstitial cystitis?
The grant allows us to expand on some research that we had done in the past few years that suggests that interstitial cystitis may have as its cause, a system or body-wide abnormality, particularly in relationship to how the body regulates the inflammatory process.
How many separate projects or studies will result from the $4.8 million grant?
We have five projects planned. Two of the projects are clinical projects, so they involve patients and test various aspects of the inflammatory regulation. We have an epidemiologic study which just looks at the population and the symptoms that are manifest by the condition—who manifests those symptoms. And t we have two basic science or lab projects.
What is the goal in the next five years with regard to interstitial cystitis?
The goal is very clear. We would like to clearly and accurately describe the cause of this condition. We’ve not been able to treat many things in medicine where we don’t know the root cause, and so that’s the goal—to find the cause and then that should lead us to better treatments. |
