BACKGROUND: Heat shock protein 27 (HSP 27) is known as a mediator in immune response and has been recently found to be expressed in prostate cancer. This study aimed to investigate the role of HSP27 in inflammatory BPH.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Hospitalized BPH patients who received TURP were divided into 4 groups by the presence and degrees of chronic inflammation: non-inflammatory BPH (NI BPH), mild-inflammatory BPH (MI BPH), moderate-inflammatory BPH (MOI BPH), and severe-inflammatory BPH (SI BPH). Expressions of HSP 27, TNF-α, IL-6, and CD3 in prostate tissues and serum of patients were detected by immunohistochemistry and ELISA.

RESULTS: Expression of HSP27 in BPH with histological inflammation was significantly higher than in non-inflammatory BPH. In inflammatory BPH groups, HSP27 expression gradually increased along with increasing inflammation. There was a significant correlation between the expression of TNF-α, IL-6, CD3 and HSP27 among different inflammatory BPH groups.

CONCLUSIONS: HSP27 expression level is associated with the degree of chronic inflammation in BPH and may participate in the pathological process in inflammatory BPH.

Keywords: Antigens, CD3 - blood, Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists - therapeutic use, Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism, Chronic Disease, Cross-Sectional Studies, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Finasteride - therapeutic use, Gene Expression Regulation, HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins - metabolism, Inflammation - metabolism, Interleukin-6 - blood, Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms - therapy, Prostate - metabolism, Prostatic Hyperplasia - metabolism, Prostatic Neoplasms - metabolism, Transurethral Resection of Prostate, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - blood