Development of a Urine Biomarker-Based Decision Tree Model to Predict Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction in Females

Lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) was associated with bladder inflammation and tissue hypoxia with oxidative stress. This study investigated the profiles of urine inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in females with LUTD and to develop a urine biomarker-based decision tree model for the prediction. Urine samples were collected from 31 female patients with detrusor overactivity (DO), 45 with dysfunctional voiding (DV), and 114 with interstitial cystitis/ bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). The targeted analytes included 15 inflammatory cytokines and 3 oxidative stress biomarkers (8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosin, 8-isoprostane, and total antioxidant capacity [TAC]). Different female LUTD groups had distinct urine biomarker profiles, including IL-1β, IL-2, IL-8, IL-10, eotaxin, CXCL10, MIP-1β, RANTES, TNFα, VEGF, NGF, BDNF, 8-isoprostane, and TAC. The urine biomarker-based decision tree, using IL-8, IL-10, CXCL10, TNFα, NGF, and BDNF as nodes, demonstrated an overall accuracy rate of 85.3%. DO, DV, and IC/BPS accuracy rates were 74.2%, 73.3%, and 93.0%, respectively. Internal validation revealed similar overall accuracy rate. Random forest models supported the significance and importance of all selected nodes in this decision tree model. Urine inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarker profiles of different female LUTDs were different. This internally validated urine biomarker-based decision tree model predicted different female LUTDs with high accuracy.