title: A prospective controlled study to determine the duration of antibiotherapy in the patients with elevated serum PSA levels.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to determine the duration that antibiotherapy should have in order to make total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) levels decrease to normal ranges in patients without prostatitis symptoms but with total PSA levels around 4.01-9.9 ng/dL.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 129 male patients were enrolled and divided into either study group (N.=102) or control group (N.=27). The study group received a 21-day treatment with ofloxacin 400 mg/day, while the control group did not receive any treatment. tPSA and free PSA levels were measured on the 7th, 14th and 21st day, and at the 3rd, 6th, and 12th month of the study. tPSA levels and the number of patients whose tPSA levels decreased ≤4.0 ng/dL levels was recorded and analyzed for statistical significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 7, 14, and 21 days mean tPSA values were all lower than baseline values and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Of 102 patients 31, 38 and 36 patients had decreased tPSA levels at 7, 14, and 21 days, respectively. But when we compared 7th day mean tPSA levels with days 14 and 21, we found no statistical differences (P>0.05). Sixty-six patients had persistently high tPSA levels and 64 of them underwent prostate biopsy. Prostate cancer was detected in 8 of them (12.5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A seven-day course of antibiotherapy is enough to normalize PSA levels in gray-zone patients. If recurrence of PSA increase is seen during follow-up, antibiotherapy can be useful again in those patients who previously benefited from it, while it will prove unnecessary in those who did not have their tPSA level normalized by it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Konya Military Hospital, Konya, Turkey - murat804@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Hasret
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Topac
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goktas
authors.forename: Seref
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Basal
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zor
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dayanc
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015242:Ofloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015242:Ofloxacin; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen