Differential expression of immune factor between patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome and the healthy volunteers

Purpose: Immune mechanisms have been hypothesized to contribute to the development of CP/CPPS. In this study, we investigated the differential expression of immune factors between patients with CP/CPPS and healthy volunteers. Methods: This study was registered in Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. Healthy volunteers and patients with CP/CPPS were enrolled in this study. The inclusion criteria for patients were below: (1) aged 18–45 years old; (2) prostatitis-related syndrome longer than 3 months; (3) normal routine urine culture and negative bacterial culture in prostatic fluid. Patients were further classified into two groups: types IIIA and IIIB CP/CPPS according to the results of EPS routine test. Serum immune markers include IgA, IgM, IgG, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺. Results: There are total 23 CP/CPPS patients, including 12 type IIIB and 11 type IIIA. Relatively, there are 26 healthy volunteers. The serum levels of IgG were higher in CP/CPPS patients compared to healthy volunteers (1141.2 ± 204.3 vs 1031.9 ± 173.7 mg/L, p = 0.045), while the serum levels of CD8⁺ were lower in CP/CPPS patients compared to healthy volunteers (492.8 ± 185.6 vs 640.0 ± 246.8 cells/μL, p = 0.021). Furthermore, serum levels of IgG were higher in patients with IIIA CP/CPPS compared to those with IIIB (1244.3 ± 151.6 vs 1054.3 ± 209.3 mg/L, p = 0.023). Conclusions: Differential levels of IgG and CD8⁺ between CPPS patients and healthy volunteers suggest a contributing role of immune mechanisms to the development of CP/CPPS; and IgG may play an important role in inflammatory CPPS. Clinical Study registration number ACTRN12613000792729.