title: The role of chronic prostatic inflammation in the pathogenesis and progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
abstract: Several different stimuli may induce chronic prostatic inflammation, which in turn would lead to tissue damage and continuous wound healing, thus contributing to prostatic enlargement. Patients with chronic inflammation and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) have been shown to have larger prostate volumes, more severe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and a higher probability of acute urinary retention than their counterparts without inflammation. Chronic inflammation could be a predictor of poor response to BPH medical treatment. Thus, the ability to identify patients with chronic inflammation would be crucial to prevent BPH progression and develop target therapies. Although the histological examination of prostatic tissue remains the only available method to diagnose chronic inflammation, different parameters, such as prostatic calcifications, prostate volume, LUTS severity, storage and prostatitis-like symptoms, poor response to medical therapies and urinary biomarkers, have been shown to be correlated with chronic inflammation. The identification of patients with BPH and chronic inflammation might be crucial in order to develop target therapies to prevent BPH progression. In this context, clinical, imaging and laboratory parameters might be used alone or in combination to identify patients that harbour chronic prostatic inflammation.
authors: Department of Urology, Urological Research Institute, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Gandaglia
authors: Alberto
authors: A
authors: Briganti
authors: Paolo
authors: P
authors: Gontero
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Mondaini
authors: Giacomo
authors: G
authors: Novara
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Salonia
authors: Alessandro
authors: A
authors: Sciarra
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Montorsi
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D002908:Chronic Disease; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D059411:Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000209:etiology*; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000150:complications*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: LUTS severity; acute urinary retention; benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH); biomarkers; chronic prostatic inflammation; prostatic calcifications