The urinary microbiota of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) has been associated with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), however, little is known about urinary microbiota correlations with clinicopathological parameters associated with BPH. Here, we investigate associations between the urinary microbiota and clinical parameters of patients with BPH undergoing surgery.
Forty-one patients with BPH undergoing surgery were recruited from two medical centers. Catheterized urine specimens were collected and the microbiota was characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Patients were segregated into two groups according to each clinical parameter and differences in urinary microbiota diversity and composition were evaluated.
Higher prostate weight and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were associated with higher alpha diversity in the urinary microbiota of BPH patients. At the specific microbe level, we found that the greater the prostatic weight, the lower the relative abundance of Streptococcus, while the greater the PSA levels, the higher the abundance of Lactobacillus. Treatment with 5-α-reductase inhibitor was associated with overall urinary microbiota composition, in part due to a higher abundance of Corynebacterium and Anaerococcus in this group.
We demonstrated that the urinary microbiota of BPH patients is associated with clinicopathological features, paving the way for larger studies in which causality between urinary microbiota and BPH can be appropriately explored.
The Prostate. 2023 Nov 13 [Epub ahead of print]
Antonio C H Mariotti, Vitor Heidrich, Lilian T Inoue, Elisangela M Coser, Ernande X Dos Santos, Hugo D B Dos Santos, Carolina B T Rocha, Paula F Asprino, Fabiana Bettoni, Diogo A Bastos, Denis L F Jardim, Anamaria A Camargo, Marco A Arap
Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, Brazil., Centro de Oncologia Molecular, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, Brazil., Faculdade de Ciências Médicas de Santos, Santos, Brazil., Centro de Oncologia, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, Brazil., Departamento de Urologia, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, Brazil.