Experimental investigations on the absorption of intravesically instilled mitomycin C in the urinary bladder of the rat.

After ligation of ureters and urethra, male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated over 3 h with either 2 mg mitomycin C (MMC) intravesically (group I), or in conjunction with pre-instillation bladder electrocoagulation (group II) or iatrogenic Escherichia coli/xylene-induced severe cystitis (group III). Vesical absorption of MMC was investigated by measuring serum MMC up to 180 min postinstillation on the basis of a thin agar plate method. There was no statistically significant different with regard to the total amount of MMC absorbed between groups I and II. However, when groups I and III or II and III were compared, a significant differing transvesical absorption was calculated, being higher for the electrocoagulation than for the cystitis group. The possible clinical implication of this finding is discussed in connection with the most recent literature.