Abstract:

Objective To investigate the role of zinc（Zn） level in prostatic fluid for the diagnosis of different types of chronic prostatitis.Methods A total of 36 patients with chronic bacterial prostatitis（CBP） and 36 patients with non-chronic bacterial prostatitis（NCBP） were enrolled,and 40 healthy males were enrolled as healthy control group. Zn and C-reactive protein（CRP） levels were determined. Peripheral blood white blood cell（WBC） count was determined as well. The role of Zn level in prostatic fluid for the diagnosis of CBP was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curve. The correlations of Zn level in prostatic fluid with CRP level and WBC count were evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis.Results The levels of Zn in prostatic fluid in CBP,NCBP and healthy control groups were increased in turn（P<0.05）. The CRP level,WBC count and neutrophil absolute value（NEUT#） in CBP group were higher than those in NCBP and healthy control groups（P<0.05）. There was no statistical significance between NCBP group and healthy control group（P>0.05）. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of Zn level in prostatic fluid for the diagnosis of CBP was 0.845,the optimal cut-off value was 502.6 mg/L,the sensitivity was 83.5%,and the specificity was 79.3%. The Zn level in prostatic fluid was negatively correlated with CRP level and WBC count（r=-0.521 and -0.125,P<0.05）.Conclusions Zn level in prostatic fluid can help with diagnosing chronic prostatitis. Combined with CRP level and WBC count,it can assist to distinguish different types of chronic prostatitis.

Key words: Zinc, Prostatic fluid, Chronic prostatitis