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Presence of PSA auto‐antibodies in men with prostate abnormalities (prostate cancer/benign prostatic hyperplasia/prostatitis)
Author(s) -
Lokant M. T.,
Naz R. K.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
andrologia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1439-0272
pISSN - 0303-4569
DOI - 10.1111/and.12265
Subject(s) - prostatitis , prostate cancer , medicine , prostate , urology , semen , prostate specific antigen , hyperplasia , antibody , cancer , andrology , immunology
Summary Prostate‐specific antigen ( PSA ), produced by the prostate, liquefies post‐ejaculate semen. PSA is detected in semen and blood. Increased circulating PSA levels indicate prostate abnormality [prostate cancer ( PC ), benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH ), prostatitis ( PTIS )], with variance among individuals. As the prostate has been proposed as an immune organ, we hypothesise that variation in PSA levels among men may be due to presence of auto‐antibodies against PSA . Sera from healthy men ( n = 28) and men having prostatitis ( n = 25), BPH ( n = 30) or PC ( n = 29) were tested for PSA antibody presence using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA ) values converted to standard deviation ( SD ) units, and Western blotting. Taking ≥2 SD units as cut‐off for positive immunoreactivity, 0% of normal men, 0% with prostatitis, 33% with BPH and 3.45% with PC demonstrated PSA antibodies. One‐way analysis of variance ( anova ) performed on the mean absorbance values and SD units of each group showed BPH as significantly different ( P < 0.01) compared with PC and prostatitis. All others were nonsignificant ( P < 0.05). Men (33%) with BPH had PSA antibodies by ELISA and Western blot. These discoveries may find clinical application in differential diagnosis among prostate abnormalities, especially differentiating BPH from prostate cancer and prostatitis.