Evaluation of the Efficacy of Colchicine, Pirfenidone and Prednisolone in Preventing Stricture Due to Inflammation as a Result of Urethral Mucosal Damage in Rats

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of oral use of drugs with anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic properties that are used in the treatment of many diseases in clinical practice in rats with stenosis caused by urethral damage. Materials and Methods: Forty male rats were equally divided into 5 groups. After anesthesia, penectomy was performed in group 1 without any other procedure. Urethral stenosis was created in rats in the groups 2, 3, 4, and 5. The rats in group 2 underwent penectomy at the end of 6 weeks. Groups 3, 4, and 5 were treated with colchicine, prednisolone, and pirfenidone, respectively by gavage for 6 weeks and underwent penectomy. Inflammation, fibrosis, and urethral lumen area were evaluated histopathologically in urethral tissue or all animals. Results: The urethral lumen area increased in group 4, although this incease was not statistically significant compared to group 2. In addition, prednisolone lead to a significant decrease in the inflammation and fibrosis scores compared to group 2. We also found that there was a significant decrease in inflammation and fibrosis scores and a significant increase in the urethral lumen area in groups 3,5 compared to group 2. Moreover, the group 3 had a significant increase in matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression compared to group 2. Bone morphogenetic protein-2 expression was increased especially in groups 3,5. Conclusion: We concluded that oral administration of colchicine or pirfenidone prevented the formation of urethral stenosis in rats to a large extent. The oral steroid treatment also reduced the formation of urethral stenosis, although not as effectively as colchicine or pirfenidone.

Keywords

• functional urology
• pathology
• reconstructive urology