Studies on Some Oxidative Stress Markers and Antioxidant Status in Subjects with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia on Therapy in Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu

Abstract

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a highly prevalent age-related prostatic condition with lower urinary tract symptoms. There is increasing evidence that oxidative stress and defective antioxidant defence may play a role in the pathogenesis of BPH. Information on oxidative stress and antioxidant status in Nigerian men with BPH, particularly during medication, is however scarce. This study examined certain oxidative stress markers and antioxidant levels of men with BPH on therapy at Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu, Nigeria. Material and methods: A prospective comparative study was done among 150 males in the age group of 40-65 years with 75 therapy naïve BPH patients and 75 apparently healthy controls. The patients with BPH were followed-up at 3 and 6 months of therapy. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and vitamin C were evaluated by standard spectrophotometric and ELISA based procedures. Data were examined using SPSS version 23.0. Comparisons between groups were carried out using Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation was utilised to analyse the correlations between biochemical markers. Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05. Therapy-naïve BPH patients had significantly higher serum MDA than controls (1.93±0.14 vs 1.35±0.03 mmol/L, p=0.001) and significantly lower GSH (3.28±0.41 vs 4.88±0.31 mmol/ml), GPx (199.59±31.89 vs 317.86±58.71), SOD (135.35±14.51 vs 174.03±14.75) and vitamin C (0.74±0.15 vs 1.41±0.31 µg/ml) (p=0.001 for all). After three months of therapy, MDA fell dramatically whereas GSH, GPx, SOD and vitamin C increased significantly (p=0.001). After 6 months, MDA further reduced to 1.47±0.11 mmol/L while GSH, GPx, SOD and vitamin C increased to 4.50±0.34 mmol/ml, 313.30±29.54, 167.96±26.12 and 1.50±0.23 µg/ml, respectively. Increased lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidant defence have been demonstrated in therapy-naïve BPH patients. The gradual decrease in MDA and the increase in antioxidant markers during the therapy indicate that the oxidative-antioxidant balance improves over six months. Biomarkers of oxidative stress may provide important supplementary information in understanding the biochemical alterations associated with BPH and its therapy.