Zinc and cadmium concentrations in indigenous blacks with normal, hypertrophic, and malignant prostate

Abstract

In order to determine the role of cadmium and zinc in the very low incidence (10/100,000) of cancer of the prostate, in African blacks which contrasts with the very high incidence (100/100,000) in American blacks, the authors measured the serum and prostatic concentrations of these trace metals in healthy Nigerian men and those with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and prostatic cancer using atomic absorption spectrophotometric study. The mean plasma zinc concentration of healthy men was 14.9 mumol/l +/- 0.5 SEM, whereas those with BPH and malignant glands were 16.5 mumol/l +/- 0.6 SEM and 11 mumol/l +/- 0.7 SEM, respectively. The mean serum cadmium concentrations were 15.2 mumol/l +/- 0.6 SEM, 15.5 mumol/l +/- 0.7 SEM, and 24.2 +/- 0.9 SEM for normal, BPH, and cancer subjects, respectively. The mean prostatic tissue zinc concentration in normal gland was 12.1 mumol/g +/- 0.8 SEM, BPH 17.9 mumol/g +/- 0.6 SEM, and cancer gland 2.9 mumol/g +/- 0.4 SEM. The mean prostatic tissue cadmium concentration for normal BPH and malignant glands were 3.8 mumol/g +/- 0.6 SEM, 14.6 mumol/g +/- 0.37 SEM. The serum and prostatic tissue values of these trace metals in our controls, BPH, and cancer subjects compare with those from populations with higher prostatic cancer rates. This suggests that these metals do not primarily play any significant role in the reported low incidence rate of prostatic cancer in our community. Furthermore, in control subjects and those with BPH, cadmium/zinc ratio, whether evaluated for serum or prostatic tissue was one or less. In patients with cancer, however, this ratio was always greater than one. The possible clinical use of this ratio to diagnose cancer of the prostate gland and to follow-up such patients needs to be further evaluated through more studies.

Unraveling the mysteries of endostatin

“…These parameters demonstrate that the extra ZBP does not alter much of the intrinsic zinc-binding of endostatin. Although the concentrations of plasma zinc and tissue zinc vary in people at different ages or suffering from different tumors (44,45), zinc is one of the most abundant trace metals in normal people with an average plasma concentration around 14.9 lM (45). Therefore, both endostatin and ZBP-endostatin should be predominantly in the zinc-bound form under physiological conditions.…”

Metallothionein of Prostatic Tissues and Fluids in Rats and Humans.

“…In the lateral lobe, the concentration of MT in group 4 was low compared with those in groups 2 and 3, possibly due to dysfunction of prostatic cells following administration of a high dose. Cadmium inhibits the uptake of zinc by the prostate and decreases the intracellular zinc content (Ogunlewe and Osegbe 1989). The prostate contains many enzymes such as acid phosphatase and 5a-reductase which need zinc (Mawson and Fischer 1952b ;bare et al 1956bare et al Vallee 1959Ogunlewe and Osegbe 1989).…”

“…Zinc concentration is high in prostatic tissue and fluid (Mawson and Fischer 1952a;Gyorkey et al 1967 ;Anderson and Fair 1976;Ogunlewe et al 1989), and the concentration of zinc has been found to affect male infertility (Anderson et al 1976). This shows MT of the prostate binds to zinc.…”

“…The concentration of zinc is high in prostatic tissues and fluids (Mawson and Fischer 1952a;Gyorkey et al 1967; Anderson and Fair 1976;Ogunlewe and Osegbe 1989). We reported the localization of MT in the rat and human prostate by immunohistochemistry (Umeyama et al 1987; Suzuki et al 1991) The essential role of MT in the prostate gland remains unclear.…”

Prostatic Tissue Levels of 43 Trace Elements in Patients with Prostate Adenocarcinoma

“…The trace element contents in tissue of the normal and cancerous prostate have been studied, producing contradictory results (Tipton et al, 1954;Koch & Smith, 1956;Stitch, 1957;Tipton & Cook, 1963;Sangen, 1967;Weinig & Zink, 1967;Liebscher & Smith, 1968;Höffken & Rausch-Stroomann, 1969;Soman et al, 1970;Forssen, 1972;Dhar et al, 1973;Kubo et al, 1976;Jafa et al, 1980;Ogunlewe & Osegbe, 1989;Oldereid et al, 1993;Banaś et al, 2001;Kwiatek et al, 2001;Kwiatek et al, 2004;Eckhert, 2005;Galván-Bobadilla et al, 2005;Kwiatek et al, 2005;Yaman et al, 2005;Guntupalli et al, 2007;Muecke et al, 2009;Kiziler et al, 2010;Schöpfer et al, 2010;Guzel et al, 2012;Leitão et al, 2014;Neslund-Dudas et al, 2014). The majority of these data are based on measurements of processed tissue and in many studies tissue samples are digested before analysis.…”