phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:5362 DOI 10.3390/medsci14010027 Improved Sphincter Muscle Regeneration by Myoblasts from M. extensor carpi radialis in a Large Animal Model of Urinary Incontinence Purpose: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a significant medical challenge affecting substantial parts of modern societies. Several studies suggested that cell therapy may alleviate the symptoms. However, in many cases, the overall efficacy was not satisfactory for the patient’s needs. Moreover, in our recent preclinical studies, myoblasts isolated from M. semitendinosus failed to restore significant urethral sphincter function. We, therefore, investigated in our large animal SUI model whether myoblasts from other muscles yielded better sphincter recovery. Methods: Urethral sphincter deficiency was induced surgically in six female littermates and confirmed by measuring the urethral wall pressure. Three days after induction of sphincter deficiency in gilts, homologous myoblasts were injected into the sphincter complex. The urethral wall pressure and urine status were monitored weekly for a six-week follow-up. Results: Myoblasts isolated from M. extensor carpi radialis yielded a high expression of the myogenic markers desmin, CD56, ACTA1, MSTN, Myf6, and MyoD; were differentiation-competent; and formed myotubes in vitro. Such cells restored significant sphincter deficiency (2494 ± 266 U; ≙92%; p < 0.001; n = 6) and yielded a complete functional recovery from the induced sphincter deficiency (481 ± 123 U, ≙18%) when compared to the starting levels of untreated healthy pigs (2683 ± 764 U; ≙100%). The experimental group showed significant recovery compared to the mock controls (p < 0.045). Conclusions: The choice of myoblasts contributes to the clinical outcome in our large animal model of urinary incontinence. Myoblasts from M. extensor carpi radialis facilitated better sphincter recovery compared to myoblasts from M. semitendinosus. eng Stress Urinary Incontinence Large Animal Model Of Incontinence Cell Therapy Sphincter Regeneration Myoblasts 2026-07-22T08:05:07.668Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Harland;Niklas; FN:Niklas Harland X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5532-4868 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Schwarz;Lukas; FN:Lukas Schwarz X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4716-4913 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Avci-Adali;Meltem; FN:Meltem Avci-Adali X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4008-4272 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Buzanich-Ladinig;Andrea; FN:Andrea Buzanich-Ladinig X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5037-7269 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Serna-Higuita;Lina M.; FN:Lina M. Serna-Higuita X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5182-8295 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Stenzl;Arnulf; FN:Arnulf Stenzl END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Aicher;Wilhelm K.; FN:Wilhelm K. Aicher X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2210-6773 END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 22555357 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:5362 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:5362/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline