title: The effect of chronic prostatitis on zinc concentration of prostatic fluid and seminal plasma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prostatitis is a common disease in urology departments. Prostatic zinc accumulation is connected with the secretory function of the prostate, and zinc concentrations present in prostatic diseases differ greatly from the normal level. Studies have investigated the effect of chronic prostatitis on zinc concentration of prostatic fluid and seminal plasma, but have shown inconsistent results. Hence, we performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of chronic prostatitis on the zinc concentration of prostatic fluid and seminal plasma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic literature searches were conducted with PubMed, Embase, Science Direct/Elsevier, CNKI and the Cochrane Library up to March 2015 for case-control studies that involved the relationship between chronic prostatitis and zinc concentration of prostatic fluid and seminal plasma. Meta-analysis was performed with Review Manager and Stata software. Standard mean differences (SMDs) of zinc concentration were identified with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) in a random- or fixed-effects model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results illustrated that the zinc concentrations in prostatic fluid and seminal plasma from chronic prostatitis patients were significantly lower than normal controls (SMD [95% CI] -246.71 [-347.97, -145.44], -20.74 [-35.11, -6.37], respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The sample size of each study was relatively small, and a total of 731 chronic prostatitis patients and 574 normal controls were investigated in all fourteen studies. Several studies related to the subject were excluded due to lack of control data or means and standard deviations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study illustrates that there was a significant negative effect of chronic prostatitis on zinc concentrations of prostatic fluid and seminal plasma. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to better illuminate the negative impact of chronic prostatitis on zinc concentrations.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Urology , the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an, Shanxi , China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: a Department of Urology , the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an, Shanxi , China.
authors.forename: GuangWei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: a Department of Urology , the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an, Shanxi , China.
authors.forename: YongGang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Urology , the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an, Shanxi , China.
authors.forename: LiJun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Urology , the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an, Shanxi , China.
authors.forename: QingZhi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: a Department of Urology , the First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an, Shanxi , China.
authors.forename: YueFeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011467:Prostate / Q000378:metabolism*; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D012661:Semen / Q000378:metabolism*; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc
keywords: Chronic prostatitis; Seminal plasma; zinc