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Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2015The prostate is a principal accessory genital gland that is vital for normal fertility. Epithelial cells lining the prostate acini release in a defined fashion... (Review)
Review
The prostate is a principal accessory genital gland that is vital for normal fertility. Epithelial cells lining the prostate acini release in a defined fashion (exocytosis) organellar nanosized structures named prostasomes. They are involved in the protection of sperm cells against immune response in the female reproductive tract by modulating the complement system and by inhibiting monocyte and neutrophil phagocytosis and lymphocyte proliferation. The immunomodulatory function most probably involves small non-coding RNAs present in prostasomes. Prostasomes have also been proposed to regulate the timing of sperm cell capacitation and induction of the acrosome reaction, since they are rich in various transferable bioactive molecules (e.g. receptors and enzymes) that promote the fertilising ability of sperm cells. Antigenicity of sperm cells has been well documented and implicated in involuntary immunological infertility of human couples, and antisperm antibodies (ASA) occur in several body fluids. The propensity of sperm cells to carry attached prostasomes suggests that they are a new category of sperm antigens. Circulating human ASA recognise prostasomes, and among 12 identified prostasomal antigens, prolactin- inducible protein (95 %) and clusterin (85 %) were immunodominant at the expense of the other 10 that were sporadically occurring.
Topics: Humans; Male; Prostate; Reproduction
PubMed: 26178851
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-18881-2_9 -
NPJ Systems Biology and Applications May 2020Up to date, screening for prostate cancer (PCa) remains one of the most appealing but also a very controversial topics in the urological community. PCa is the second... (Review)
Review
Up to date, screening for prostate cancer (PCa) remains one of the most appealing but also a very controversial topics in the urological community. PCa is the second most common cancer in men worldwide and it is universally acknowledged as a complex disease, with a multi-factorial etiology. The pathway of PCa diagnosis has changed dramatically in the last few years, with the multiparametric magnetic resonance (mpMRI) playing a starring role with the introduction of the "MRI Pathway". In this scenario the basic tenet of network medicine (NM) that sees the disease as perturbation of a network of interconnected molecules and pathways, seems to fit perfectly with the challenges that PCa early detection must face to advance towards a more reliable technique. Integration of tests on body fluids, tissue samples, grading/staging classification, physiological parameters, MR multiparametric imaging and molecular profiling technologies must be integrated in a broader vision of "disease" and its complexity with a focus on early signs. PCa screening research can greatly benefit from NM vision since it provides a sound interpretation of data and a common language, facilitating exchange of ideas between clinicians and data analysts for exploring new research pathways in a rational, highly reliable, and reproducible way.
Topics: Biomarkers, Tumor; Early Detection of Cancer; Humans; Image-Guided Biopsy; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neoplasm Grading; Predictive Value of Tests; Prostate; Prostate-Specific Antigen; Prostatic Neoplasms
PubMed: 32382028
DOI: 10.1038/s41540-020-0133-0 -
American Journal of Physiology. Renal... Jan 2021Bacterial infection is one known etiology of prostatic inflammation. Prostatic inflammation is associated with prostatic collagen accumulation and both are linked to...
Bacterial infection is one known etiology of prostatic inflammation. Prostatic inflammation is associated with prostatic collagen accumulation and both are linked to progressive lower urinary tract symptoms in men. We characterized a model of prostatic inflammation using transurethral instillations of UTI89 in C57BL/6J male mice with the goal of determining the optimal instillation conditions, understanding the impact of instillation conditions on urinary physiology, and identifying ideal prostatic lobes and collagen 1a1 prostatic cell types for further analysis. The smallest instillation volume tested (50 µL) distributed exclusively to the bladder, 100- and 200-µL volumes distributed to the bladder and prostate, and a 500-µL volume distributed to the bladder, prostate, and ureter. A threshold optical density of 0.4 UTI89 in the instillation fluid was necessary for significant ( < 0.05) prostate colonization. UTI89 infection resulted in a low frequency, high volume spontaneous voiding pattern. This phenotype was due to exposure to UTI89, not catheterization alone, and was minimally altered by a 50-µL increase in instillation volume and doubling of concentration. Prostate inflammation was isolated to the dorsal prostate and was accompanied by increased collagen density. This was partnered with increased density of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type C, procollagen type I-α copositive cells and decreased density of α-smooth muscle actin, procollagen type I-α copositive cells. Overall, we determined that this model is effective in altering urinary phenotype and producing prostatic inflammation and collagen accumulation in mice.
Topics: Actins; Animals; Collagen Type I; Collagen Type I, alpha 1 Chain; Disease Models, Animal; Escherichia coli Infections; Leukocyte Common Antigens; Male; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Procollagen; Prostate; Prostatitis; Tissue Culture Techniques; Uropathogenic Escherichia coli; Mice
PubMed: 33135480
DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00431.2020 -
The Prostate Jun 2008Cytokines are key mediators of inflammation that may relate to prostate cancer initiation and progression, and that may be useful markers of prostatic neoplasia and...
BACKGROUND
Cytokines are key mediators of inflammation that may relate to prostate cancer initiation and progression, and that may be useful markers of prostatic neoplasia and related inflammation. In order to better understand the relationship between cytokines and prostate cancer, we profiled cytokines in prostatic fluids obtained from cancerous prostate glands and correlated them to both cancer status and inflammatory grade.
METHODS
Prostatic fluid was collected from fresh radical prostatectomy specimens and analyzed by cytokine antibody microarray. For comparison, cases were selected from patients with either minimal or extensive cancer volume on final pathology. Among the cytokines with the greatest difference between the tumor volume groups, eight had their levels quantitated by ELISA. In addition, the grade of prostatic inflammation by neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes was scored for each case and examined for correlations with cytokine levels.
RESULTS
Among 174 cytokines analyzed, HGF was the most increased (6.57-fold), and along with IL18Bpa was significantly elevated in patients with extensive disease compared to those with minimal disease. IL17, GITR, and ICAM-1 were elevated in specimens with significant neutrophilic inflammation into gland lumina, and IL18Bpa, IL17, GITR, and ICAM-1 were elevated in specimens with significant lymphocytic inflammation in prostatic stroma.
CONCLUSIONS
Prostatic fluid cytokines were identified that may be useful for early cancer detection and prognostication efforts and for assessment of prostatic inflammation, particularly if they can be found not only in prostatic fluids obtained ex vivo, but in expressed prostatic secretions or urine samples from men with prostates still in situ.
Topics: Body Fluids; Cytokines; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Hepatocyte Growth Factor; Humans; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Male; Prostate; Prostatic Neoplasms; Prostatitis; Protein Array Analysis
PubMed: 18361406
DOI: 10.1002/pros.20755 -
Andrology Jan 2021The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been spreading all over the world since December 2019. However, medical information regarding the urogenital involvement in...
BACKGROUND
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been spreading all over the world since December 2019. However, medical information regarding the urogenital involvement in recovered COVID-19 patients is limited or unknown.
OBJECTIVES
To comprehensively evaluate urogenital involvement in recovered COVID-19 patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Men aged between 20 years and 50 years who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovered when the study was conducted were enrolled in our study. Demographic and clinical characteristics, and history of hospitalization were collected and analyzed. Urine, expressed prostatic secretions (EPSs), and semen samples were collected for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection. Semen quality and hormonal profiles were analyzed.
RESULTS
Among 74 male recovered COVID-19 patients, 11 (14.9%) were asymptomatic, classified into mild type, and 31 (41.9%) were classified into moderate type. The remaining patients (32/74, 43.2%) had severe pneumonia. No critically ill recovered COVID-19 patient was recruited in our cohort. The median interval between last positive pharyngeal swab RT-PCR test and semen samples collection was 80 days (IQR, 64-93). The median age was 31 years (IQR, 27-36; range, 21-49), and the median body mass index (BMI) was 24.40 (IQR, 22.55-27.30). Forty-five (61.6%) men were married, and 28 (38.4%) were unmarried. Fifty-three (72.6%) patients denied cigarette smoking, 18 (24.7%) were active smokers, and 2 of them were past smokers. The majority of our participants (53/74, 72.6%) did not consume alcohol. Fever occurred in most of the patients (75.3%), and 63 of them had abnormal chest CT images. Only one patient complained of scrotal discomfort during the course of COVID-19, which was ruled out orchitis by MRI (data not shown). A total of 205 samples were collected for SARS-CoV-2 detection (74 urine samples, 70 semen samples, and 61 EPS samples). However, viral nucleic acid was not detected in body fluids from the urogenital system. In terms of hormonal profiles, the levels of FSH, LH, testosterone, and estradiol were 5.20 [4.23] mIU/mL, 3.95 [1.63] mIU/mL, 3.65 [1.19] ng/mL, and 39.48 [12.51] pg/mL, respectively. And these values were within the normal limits. The overall semen quality of recovered COVID-19 patients was above the lower reference limit released by the WHO. While compared with healthy control, sperm concentration, total sperm count, and total motility were significantly declined. In addition, different clinical types of COVID-19 have no significant difference in semen parameters, but total sperm count showed a descending trend. Interestingly, subjects with a longer recovery time showed worse data for sperm quality. Small sample size and lacking semen parameters before the infection are the major limitations of our study.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
To the best of our knowledge, it is the largest cohort study with longest follow-up for urogenital evaluation comprehensively so far. Direct urogenital involvement was not found in the recovered COVID-19 male patients. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was undetectable in the urogenital secretions, and semen quality declined slightly, while hormonal profiles remained normal. Moreover, patients with a long time (≥90 days) since recovery had lower total sperm count. Great attention and further study should be conducted and follow-up on the reproductive function in the following months.
Topics: Adult; COVID-19; COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prostate; RNA, Viral; Remission Induction; SARS-CoV-2; Semen; Semen Analysis; Time Factors; Urine; Young Adult
PubMed: 33150723
DOI: 10.1111/andr.12939 -
BioMed Research International 2014Prostate cancer is worldwide the sixth leading cause of cancer related death in men thus early detection and successful treatment are still of major interest. The... (Review)
Review
Prostate cancer is worldwide the sixth leading cause of cancer related death in men thus early detection and successful treatment are still of major interest. The commonly performed screening of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is controversially discussed, as in many patients the prostate-specific antigen levels are chronically elevated in the absence of cancer. Due to the unsatisfying efficiency of available prostate cancer screening markers and the current treatment outcome of the aggressive hormone refractory prostate cancer, the evaluation of novel molecular markers and targets is considered an issue of high importance. MicroRNAs are relatively stable in body fluids orchestrating simultaneously the expression of many genes. These molecules are currently discussed to bear a greater diagnostic potential than protein-coding genes, being additionally promising therapeutic drugs and/or targets. Herein we review the potential impact of the microRNA let-7 family on prostate cancer and show how deregulation of several of its target genes could influence the cellular equilibrium in the prostate gland, promoting cancer development as they do in a variety of other human malignant neoplasias.
Topics: Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genes, Neoplasm; Humans; Male; MicroRNAs; Models, Biological; Prostatic Neoplasms
PubMed: 25276782
DOI: 10.1155/2014/376326 -
Theranostics 2020There is an urgent need for the detection of aggressive prostate cancer. Glycoproteins play essential roles in cancer development, while urine is a noninvasive and...
There is an urgent need for the detection of aggressive prostate cancer. Glycoproteins play essential roles in cancer development, while urine is a noninvasive and easily obtainable biological fluid that contains secretory glycoproteins from the urogenital system. Therefore, here we aimed to identify urinary glycoproteins that are capable of differentiating aggressive from non-aggressive prostate cancer. Quantitative mass spectrometry data of glycopeptides from a discovery cohort comprised of 74 aggressive (Gleason score ≥8) and 68 non-aggressive (Gleason score = 6) prostate cancer urine specimens were acquired via a data independent acquisition approach. The glycopeptides showing distinct expression profiles in aggressive relative to non-aggressive prostate cancer were further evaluated for their performance in distinguishing the two groups either individually or in combination with others using repeated 5-fold cross validation with logistic regression to build predictive models. Predictive models showing good performance from the discovery cohort were further evaluated using a validation cohort. Among the 20 candidate glycoproteins, urinary ACPP outperformed the other candidates. Urinary ACPP can also serve as an adjunct to serum PSA to further improve the discrimination power for aggressive prostate cancer (AUC= 0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.75 to 0.89). A three-signature panel including urinary ACPP, urinary CLU, and serum PSA displayed the ability to distinguish aggressive prostate cancer from non-aggressive prostate cancer with an AUC of 0.86 (95% confidence interval 0.8 to 0.92). Another three-signature panel containing urinary ACPP, urinary LOX, and serum PSA also demonstrated its ability in recognizing aggressive prostate cancer (AUC=0.82, 95% confidence interval 0.75 to 0.9). Moreover, consistent performance was observed from each panel when evaluated using a validation cohort. We have identified glycopeptides of urinary glycoproteins associated with aggressive prostate cancer using a quantitative mass spectrometry-based glycoproteomic approach and demonstrated their potential to serve as noninvasive urinary glycoprotein biomarkers worthy of further validation by a multi-center study.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Biomarkers, Tumor; Cohort Studies; Digital Rectal Examination; Feasibility Studies; Glycoproteins; Humans; Kallikreins; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Grading; Prostate-Specific Antigen; Prostatic Neoplasms; ROC Curve
PubMed: 33204318
DOI: 10.7150/thno.47066 -
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical... Jan 2017Prostatic abscess is a rare entity with an incidence of 0.5%-2.5% in all prostate diseases and usually occurs in the 5th and 6th decades of life with immunocompromised...
Prostatic abscess is a rare entity with an incidence of 0.5%-2.5% in all prostate diseases and usually occurs in the 5th and 6th decades of life with immunocompromised status. Prostatic abscess might be a process of evolution from acute prostatitis. Klebsiella pneumoniae is the leading microorganism in the diabetic patients of prostatic abscess in Taiwan. A 60-year-old diabetic man, with a one-week history of acute bacterial prostatitis was reported in this study, presenting to the emergency department with sudden altered mental status. The abdominal computed tomographic scan demonstrated lobulated prostatic abscess and multiple septic pulmonary emboli with lung abscesses. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid showed white blood cells of 10771 counts/mm with segmented neutrophils of 99%. Cultures of blood, cerebrospinal fluid and sputum yielded Klebsiella pneumoniae. We concluded that computed tomographic scan can make a definite diagnosis of prostatic abscess associated with complications and management with empiric antibiotics and adequate drainage is suggested.
PubMed: 28107857
DOI: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2016.11.014 -
Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics Dec 2021Advances in high-throughput sequencing have greatly advanced our understanding of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in a relatively short period of time. This has expanded... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Advances in high-throughput sequencing have greatly advanced our understanding of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in a relatively short period of time. This has expanded our knowledge of cancer, particularly how lncRNAs drive many important cancer phenotypes via their regulation of gene expression.
AREAS COVERED
Men of African descent are disproportionately affected by PC in terms of incidence, morbidity, and mortality. LncRNAs could serve as biomarkers to differentiate low-risk from high-risk diseases. Additionally, they may represent therapeutic targets for advanced and castrate-resistant cancer. We review current research surrounding lncRNAs and their association with PC. We discuss how lncRNAs can provide new insights and diagnostic biomarkers for African American men. Finally, we review advances in computational approaches that predict the regulatory effects of lncRNAs in cancer.
EXPERT OPINION
PC diagnostic biomarkers that offer high specificity and sensitivity are urgently needed. PC specific lncRNAs are compelling as diagnostic biomarkers owing to their high tissue and tumor specificity and presence in bodily fluids. Recent studies indicate that clinical utility might be restricted to men of European descent. Further work is required to develop lncRNA biomarkers tailored for men of African descent.
Topics: Biomarkers, Tumor; Ethnicity; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Male; Prostatic Neoplasms; RNA, Long Noncoding
PubMed: 34666586
DOI: 10.1080/14737159.2021.1996227 -
The Journal of Urology Nov 1992Nonbacterial prostatitis is often difficult to differentiate from other prostatic complaints and remains a vaguely characterized syndrome. Prostatic fluid inflammatory...
Nonbacterial prostatitis is often difficult to differentiate from other prostatic complaints and remains a vaguely characterized syndrome. Prostatic fluid inflammatory cells and elevated immunoglobulins raise the suspicion that this syndrome is caused by some undetected infection. Prostatic fluid antibodies against Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, staphylococcus, Staphylococcus faecalis, Bacteroides fragilis and Clostridium perfringens were measured in men with nonbacterial and bacterial prostatitis, and men without urinary symptoms by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Prostate specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase were measured in the prostatic fluid as indirect measures of secretory activity. Of 44 men with nonbacterial prostatitis 9 (20%) had detectable prostatic fluid antichlamydial antibody titers, compared with 3 of 25 control men (12%) and 2 of 13 (15%) with bacterial prostatitis--no evidence for a higher prevalence of prostatic fluid antichlamydial antibody in men with nonbacterial prostatitis. Prostatic antibodies to the other organisms were rarely detected. When compared with unaffected men the low levels of prostate specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase, and more alkaline prostatic fluid in men with bacterial and nonbacterial prostatitis suggest that secretory dysfunction accompanies the inflammation. These data show that none of the organisms studied caused the majority of the cases of nonbacterial prostatitis and that either an agent as yet unidentified or multiple agents may be involved in the etiology of nonbacterial prostatitis.
Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Antibodies, Bacterial; Bacteroides fragilis; Chlamydia trachomatis; Clostridium perfringens; Humans; Immunoglobulins; Male; Prostate; Prostate-Specific Antigen; Prostatitis; Staphylococcus; Ureaplasma urealyticum
PubMed: 1279213
DOI: 10.1016/s0022-5347(17)36940-9