The bladder mucus (glycosaminoglycan) layer in interstitial cystitis.

The thin mucus or glycosaminoglycan layer of the bladder may be implicated in the pathogenesis of interstitial cystitis. We developed a specific anti-mucus, antisera stabilization technique to study the ultrastructural morphological appearance of the layer, and have used this technique to compare the surface morphology of 10 control and 10 interstitial cystitis patients. The electron micrographs demonstrate the ultrastructural characteristics of the pathological changes seen in interstitial cystitis but they did not show any significant difference in the morphological appearance of the mucus or glycosaminoglycan layer between the 2 groups.