Autoimmune etiology in chronic prostatitis syndrome: an advance in the understanding of this pathology

RIVERO VE; MOTRICH RD; MACCIONI M; RIERA CM

CRITICAL REVIEWS IN IMMUNOLOGY

Begell House

Lugar: Redding ; Año: 2007 vol. 27 p. 33 - 33

1040-8401

he prostate is the target of many inflammatory and neoplastic disorders that affect men of all ages. Pathological conditions of the prostate gland range from infection of this organ by ascending bacteria from infected urine, to chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) of a still unknown etiology (accompanied with inflammation and lymphocyte infiltration of the gland), to benign hyperplasia and cancer. Patients under 50 years of age usually suffer from CP/CPPS, a chronic inflammatory syndrome characterized by pelvic pain, irritative voiding symptoms, and sexual dysfunction complaints. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding immunological alterations present in CP/ CPPS patients. Remarkably, an inflammation state, in the absence of an invading infectious agent, is established in these patients, suggesting that an autoimmune process could be involved. In fact, specific autoimmune response to prostate antigens has recently been reported