Immunological Aspects of the Prostate Gland and Related Diseases

MACCIONI, M; RIVERO, VE; MOTRICH, RD; GATTI, GA; MACKERN OBERTI, JP; ANDREANI, V; RIERA, CM

Current Immunology Reviews

Bentham Science

Lugar: Bussum, The Netherlands; Año: 2010 vol. 6 p. 287 - 287

1573-3955

t is surprising that despite the prevalence of prostate disease, little is known about the immunobiology of the prostate and its contribution to disease. The prostate is the target of many diseases like infection of the prostate gland, chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), benign hyperplasia and cancer. In this review we will focus on the relationship of the immune system with the prostate gland in two different scenarios: in the first one, the question of how prostate epithelial cells deal with inflammatory stimuli, like microorganisms, is addressed. Whereas the role of infiltrating innate immune cells like macrophages and neutrophils in prostate inflammation has been extensively studied, the particular contribution of prostate epithelial cells to an inflammatory setting has barely been investigated. Prostate epithelial cells can act as early sensors of infection, expressing Toll like receptors, the best well known innate immune receptors. Thus they beco