The smooth muscle of rat bladder in the early stages of streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

The morphology of the rat bladder was studied following 8 weeks of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, at which stage distension of the bladder had occurred. Evidence is presented for hypertrophy of the smooth muscle of the bladder wall in experimental diabetes. It is suggested that the morphological changes found in the diabetic rat bladder are associated with polyuria. The results are discussed in relation to clinical studies of bladder dysfunction in diabetes mellitus.