Trichomonas vaginalis is a flagellated protozoan that causes trichomoniasis, a common nonviral sexually transmitted infection. T. vaginalis infection is asymptomatic in most infected men but can lead to chronic infection. The inflammatory response to chronic T. vaginalis infection may contribute to prostatic diseases, such as prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH); however, studies on the relationship between T. vaginalis infection and prostate diseases are scarce. In this review, we discuss evidence from our studies on the involvement of T. vaginalis in the pathogenesis of prostate diseases, such as prostatitis and BPH. Studies of prostatitis have demonstrated that the attachment of T. vaginalis trophozoite to prostate epithelial cells (PECs) induces inflammatory cytokine production and inflammatory cell migration, leading to prostatitis. T. vaginalis also causes pathological changes, such as inflammatory cell infiltration, acinar changes, interstitial fibrosis, and mast cell infiltration, in prostate tissues of infected rats. Thus, T. vaginalis is considered an infectious agent that triggers prostatitis. Meanwhile, studies of prostatic hyperplasia revealed that mast cells activated by T. vaginalis-infected prostate cells secreted inflammatory mediators, such as β-hexosaminidase and tryptase, which promoted proliferation of prostate stromal cell (PSC). Moreover, interleukin-6 produced by proliferating PSCs induced the multiplication of BPH-1 epithelial cells as a result of stromal–epithelial interaction, suggesting that the proliferation of T. vaginalis-infected prostate cells can be induced through crosstalk with mast cells. These collective findings suggest that T. vaginalis contributes to the progression of prostatitis and prostatic hyperplasia by creating an inflammatory microenvironment involving PECs and PSCs.
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The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of PCR for diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among male patients with chronic recurrent prostatitis and urethritis. Between June 2001 and December 2003, a total of 33 patients visited the Department of Urology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital and were examined for T. vaginalis infection by PCR and culture in TYM medium. For the PCR, we used primers based on a repetitive sequence cloned from T. vaginalis (TV-E650). Voided bladder urine (VB1 and VB3) was sampled from 33 men with symptoms of lower urinary tract infection (urethral charge, residual urine sensation, and frequency). Culture failed to detect any T. vaginalis infection whereas PCR identified 7 cases of trichomoniasis (21.2%). Five of the 7 cases had been diagnosed with prostatitis and 2 with urethritis. PCR for the 5 prostatitis cases yielded a positive 330 bp band from bothVB1 and VB3, whereas positive results were only obtained from VB1 for the 2 urethritis patients. We showed that the PCR method could detect T. vaginalis when there was only 1 T. vaginalis cell per PCR mixture. Our results strongly support the usefulness of PCR on urine samples for detecting T. vaginalis in chronic prostatitis and urethritis patients.
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