Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. PD is one of the most frequent neurodegenerative disorders and, in addition to their well-known motor dysfunction (tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia), PD patients frequently have non-motor symptoms including dysphagia, constipation, orthostatic hypotension, depression, cognitive decline, dementia, sexual dysfunction, and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) (Ogawa et al., 2017, Sakakibara et al., 2018). Overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms including urinary urgency, frequency, and nocturia, with or without urgency incontinence are the most common LUTS in patients with PD (McDonald, Winge, & Burn, 2017). However, the etiology of lower urinary tract dysfunction in PD has not yet been fully elucidated. In recent years, although little by little, there have been reports of animal experiments in research on PD-related lower urinary tract dysfunction.

Recently, there have been notable changes in PD treatments. Most commonly prescribed medications for PD include levodopa and various dopaminergic agonists, and in some but not all patients, bladder overactivity can be improved through the use of dopamine replacement therapy. However, the effects of PD treatments are complex and perhaps biphasic. Moreover, bladder overactivity can be associated with age-related lower urinary tract conditions, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or pelvic organ prolapse (POP), or stress urinary incontinence as well as ageing-related pathophysiological factors that could aggravate OAB symptoms (e.g., chronic pelvic ischemia, sex hormone deficiency) (Brucker & Kalra, 2017). Thus, animal experiments with a uniform biological background are of crucial importance in gaining a better understanding of PD-related lower urinary tract dysfunction and for testing the efficacy and safety of promising treatment options.

In this paper, we review the recent literatures on animal studies of lower urinary tract dysfunction in PD models to discuss the translational aspects for the better treatment of PD patients with LUTS.