Oxidative Stress-Cause or consequence of male genital tract disorders?

BACKGROUND Inflammatory prostatitis patients are characterized by oxidative stress (OxS) at local and systemic levels. Less is known about the occurrence of OxS in the case of other frequent male genital tract disorders. METHODS The study included 196 men: controls (n?=?28), asymptomatic inflammatory (NIH category IV) prostatitis patients (n?=?21), non-inflammatory (NIH category IIIb) chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) patients (n?=?48), inflammatory (NIH category IIIa) CP/CPPS patients (n?=?44), benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) patients (n?=?33), and patients with BPH and NIH IV category prostatitis (n?=?22). In all subjects, 8-isoprostanes (8-EPI) in urine were determined by competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay. RESULTS The levels of 8-EPI were substantially higher in all diseased groupsinflammatory CP/CPPS (P?