Negative bacterial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) findings in prostate tissue from patients with symptoms of chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) and localized prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND

The etiology of chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) remains obscure. Although, bacterial etiology has frequently been suggested, evidence of both bacterial involvement in CPPS and the presence of normal bacterial flora in the prostate remain uncertain.

METHODS

We investigated the presence of bacterial DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques on prostatic tissue samples obtained in radical prostatectomy from 10 patients with moderate to severe symptoms of CPPS and 10 nonsymptomatic patients with localized prostate cancer. For symptom evaluation we used the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI).

RESULTS

All but one sample were negative for bacterial DNA. The PCR from a symptomatic patient was reproducibly positive in 16S rDNA PCR but negative in 23S rDNA PCR. Bacterial DNA was found in only one out of two sample aliquots and cloning yielded different sequences in two PCR products.

CONCLUSIONS

A bacterial etiology for CPPS symptoms could not be demonstrated in patients with prostate cancer. The results also suggest that the prostate is unlikely to harbor bacterial normal flora.