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Overview of seminal fluid biomarkers for the evaluation of chronic prostatitis: a scoping review

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 25, pages 627–640 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Background

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a very common and difficult condition to evaluate, as it is a clinical diagnosis, without a measurable diagnostic “gold standard”. The aim of this scoping review is to synthesize all the available data for seminal fluid biomarkers used to assess patients with CP/CPPS.

Methods

A systematic search to identify all relevant publications was conducted on October 22, 2020 across five databases: Ovid Medline, Ovid EMBASE, PubMed, CCRT, and the CINAHL. Two independent authors screened all articles and extracted relevant data.

Results

A total of 27 articles met the eligibility criteria. A majority of studies were case-control (15), with 6 observational cohorts and 6 comparative interventional studies. The total number of pooled patients included 585 patients with CP/CPPS (unspecified subtype), 371 patients with inflammatory CP/CPPS, 387 patients with non-inflammatory CP/CPPS, 354 patients with chronic bacterial prostatitis, and 432 healthy controls. Inflammatory seminal biomarkers were the most frequently studied, with IL6, IL8, TNFα and IL1β being the most promising candidates.

Conclusions

There are a number of very promising seminal biomarkers to help categorize and monitor therapies in CP/CPPS. Large multicentre studies using a shared protocol for measuring seminal biomarkers with the primary intention of biomarker validation are needed prior to clinical implementation. Identification of biomarker(s) will facilitate the etiological categorization of patients with chronic prostatitis and provide an objective framework to tailor specific therapies according to the biomarker family.

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Fig. 1: PRISMA flow diagram for study selection.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Joseph Moryousef, Udi Blankstein.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Joseph Moryousef

  2. Department of Urology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Udi Blankstein

  3. Department of Urology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    J. Curtis Nickel

  4. Department of Urology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Yonah Krakowsky & Keith Jarvi

  5. Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Ian Gilron

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Contributions

KJ, JM, UB, IG were responsible for study conception and design. JM and UB conducted the search, screened articles and acquired data from eligible studies. JM and UB synthesized results. JM, UB and KJ drafted the paper. JCN, YK, IG provided critical revision and guidance. All authors approved of the final revision.

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Correspondence to Keith Jarvi.

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Moryousef, J., Blankstein, U., Curtis Nickel, J. et al. Overview of seminal fluid biomarkers for the evaluation of chronic prostatitis: a scoping review. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 25, 627–640 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-021-00472-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-021-00472-8

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