DALE BJORLING, DVM

Research

Research in the Bjorling laboratory indicates that proliferation of epithelial cells lining the bladder is increased by exposure to estrogen. Dr. Bjorling’s laboratory has also found that estrogen may mediate the response of animals to noxious somatic stimuli (mechanical and thermal), particularly in the presence of visceral inflammation. These findings are of particular relevance to the potential effects of environmental contaminants on human health for the following reasons:

1. Estrogenic compounds in food and the environment may be present in sufficient quantities to affect pain responses;
2. It has been demonstrated that a primary factor in initiating of cancer of the bladder is exposure of the epithelium of the bladder to toxicants excreted in the urine. Dr. Bjorling’s observation that estrogen affects proliferation of bladder epithelial cells suggests that estrogenic compounds may contribute to malignant transformation of bladder cells; and
3. They have demonstrated that the balance between the primary estrogen receptors (ER) shifts from predominantly ERb in normal cells to equivalent amounts of ERa and ERb in bladder cancer cell lines as well as samples of transitional cell carcinoma in the bladders of humans, providing further evidence of a potential role for estrogenic compounds in initiation of bladder cancer.

Publications

• Schmiedt CW, Bjorling DE. Accidental prehension and suspected transmucosal or oral absorption of fentanyl from a transdermal patch in a dog. Vet Anaesth Analg. 2007 Jan;34(1):70-3.
• Danova NA, Robles-Emanuelli JC, Bjorling DE. Surgical excision of primary canine rectal tumors by an anal approach in twenty-three dogs. Vet Surg. 2006 Jun;35(4):337-40.
• Jerde TJ, Mellon WS, Bjorling DE, Nakada SY. Evaluation of urothelial stretch-induced cyclooxygenase-2 expression in novel human cell culture and porcine in vivo ureteral obstruction models.

Check PubMed for other publications by Dale Bjorling