Changes of Prostaglandins in the Semen from Patients with Prostatitis

Chung, Woo Sik; Lee, Moo Sang

Abstract

Inflammation of the prostate gland results in accessory sexual gland secretory dysfunction. The prostate gland and seminal vesicle provide specific factors to the seminal plasma which are essential to the male fertility such as prostaglandins. To evaluate the affection of prostatitis on the concentrations of prostaglandins in semen and its relation to the male fertility, prostaglandin(PG)E and PGF2 degrees C alpha were measured by radioimmunoassay method in semen samples from 20 normal men, 32 prostatitis patients with normal sperm quality, 16 prostatitis patients with abnormal sperm quality and 17 infertile patients with abnormal sperm quality. The results were as follows. 1. Inflammation of prostate caused significant decrease in the PGE/PGE2 degrees C alpha ratio in semen. 2. The PGE/PGF2 degrees C alpha ratio in semen from prostatitis patients was decreased significantly when the number of white blood cells increased. 3. The PGE/PGF2 degrees C alpha ratio in semen from infertile patients was lower than that from normal man. 4. The PGE/PGF2 degrees C alpha ratio in semen from prostatitis patients with abnormal sperm quality was more decreased significantly than that from infertile patients. 5. The change of concentration of PGE2 degrees C alpha in semen affected more than that of PGE on the change of the PGE/PGF2 degrees C alpha ratio. In view of our findings it seems that prostatitis causes subfertility by decreasing the PGE/ PGF2 degrees C alpha ratio in semen and these results suggest that the seminal PGE/PGF2 degrees C alpha ratio is important to the male fertility potential in that their levels are significantly interdependent with white blood cells in expressed prostatic secretion.