Oxidative stress--cause or consequence of male genital tract disorders?
BACKGROUND
Inflammatory prostatitis patients are characterized by oxidative stress (OxS) at local and systemic levels. Less is known about the occurrence of OxS in the case of other frequent male genital tract disorders.


METHODS
The study included 196 men: controls (n = 28), asymptomatic inflammatory (NIH category IV) prostatitis patients (n = 21), non-inflammatory (NIH category IIIb) chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) patients (n = 48), inflammatory (NIH category IIIa) CP/CPPS patients (n = 44), benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) patients (n = 33), and patients with BPH and NIH IV category prostatitis (n = 22). In all subjects, 8-isoprostanes (8-EPI) in urine were determined by competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay.


RESULTS
The levels of 8-EPI were substantially higher in all diseased groups-inflammatory CP/CPPS (P < 0.001), non-inflammatory CP/CPPS (P = 0.03), asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis (AIP; P = 0.02), BPH (P = 0.007), and BPH + AIP (P = 0.014) in comparison with controls. Importantly, our study showed that OxS is also present in the case of NIH IIIb category prostatitis when the patients have just chronic pelvic pain but no inflammation in prostate-specific materials, as well as in the patients with just lower urinary tract symptoms without pain or overt inflammation.


CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed that several male genital tract disorders-BPH and different forms of prostatitis (NIH categories IIIa, IIIb, and IV)-are tightly interconnected via OxS-mediated pathways. Acknowledging OxS as an important pathogenesis mechanism of these diseases helps to open up new horizons for their treatment.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Tiiu
T
Kullisaar
Silver
S
Türk
Margus
M
Punab
Reet
R
Mändar
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005832:Genital Diseases, Male / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D059411:Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult