The efficacy of tamsulosin in the treatment of chronic non-bacterial prostatitis was evaluated in a randomized clinical observation of 105 male outpatients conducted for 90 days. Patients were randomly divided into five groups (n = 21 per group) according to prostatitis type IIIA or IIIB and therapy regimens (tamsulosin, levofloxacin, or tamsulosin plus levofloxacin combination therapy). National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index scores, expressed prostatic massage test and urodynamic urethral pressure and urethral closure pressure tests were performed to evaluate clinical efficacy of the treatments. Scores for pain, urinary symptoms and quality of life were significantly improved by days 45 and 90 after all treatments in both prostatitis categories. Improvements in symptom scores in the combined treatment group were significantly superior to those in the single treatment groups. Tamsulosin and levofloxacin are both effective in the treatment of, and may have an additive effect in, the treatment of non-bacterial prostatitis.

The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic value and potentially protective capacity of heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) in chronic bacterial prostatitis and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). In this study, seminal plasma levels of cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) and interleukin 1b (IL-1b)) and HSP70 were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 80 men: 15 healthy controls, 16 men with chronic bacterial prostatitis, 23 men with CP/CPPS IIIA and 26 with CP/CPPS IIIB. The HSP70 levels in chronic bacterial prostatitis and CP/CPPS patients were correlated with chronic prostatitis symptom index (CPSI). Significantly increased levels of cytokines (TNF-a and IL-1b) and HSP70 were observed in seminal plasmas from patients with chronic bacterial prostatitis compared with CP/CPPS patients and controls. However, only IL-1b was significantly elevated compared with CP/CPPS IIIB and controls in patients with CP/CPPS IIIA. HSP70 levels in CP/CPPS patients were significantly lower than that in controls. HSP70 concentration in seminal plasma was negatively correlated with CPSI in chronic bacterial prostatitis. The results indicated that HSP70 and IL-1b appear to be the most reliable and predictive surrogate markers to diagnose chronic bacterial prostatitis and CP/CPPS, respectively. HSP70 has an important protective role in the regulation of cell functions in chronic bacterial prostatitis. CP/CPPS would probably be detrimental to the ability of T cells and consequently suppress the expression of HSP70.

No abstract