This study investigated the effects of long-term treatment with rifaximin and the probiotic VSL#3 on uro-genital and gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) plus diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS) compared with patients with D-IBS alone. Eighty-five patients with CP/CPPS (45 with subtype IIIa and 40 with IIIb) plus D-IBS according to the Rome III criteria and an aged-matched control-group of patients with D-IBS alone (n = 75) received rifaximin and VSL#3. The primary endpoints were the response rates of IBS and CP/CPPS symptoms, assessed respectively through Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) and The National Institute of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), and performed at the start of therapy (V0) and three months after (V3). In IIIa prostatitis patients, the total NIH-CPSI scores significantly (p < 0.05) decreased from a baseline mean value of 21.2 to 14.5 at V3 , as did all subscales, and in the IIIb the total NIH-CPSI score also significantly decreased (from 17.4 to 15.1). Patients with IBS alone showed no significant differences in NIH-CPSI score. At V3, significantly greater improvement in the IBS-SSS and responder rate were found in IIIa patients. Our results were explained through a better individual response at V3 in IIIa prostatitis of urinary and gastrointestinal symptoms, while mean leukocyte counts on expressed prostate secretion (EPS) after prostate massage significantly lowered only in IIIa cases.
Nutrients. 2017 Nov 03*** epublish ***
Enzo Vicari, Michele Salemi, Giuseppe Sidoti, Mariano Malaguarnera, Roberto Castiglione
Section of Endocrinology, Andrology and Internal Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy. ., IRCCS Oasi Institute for Research on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging, Via Conte Ruggiero 73, 94018 Troina, Italy. ., UOSD Medicina Interna Ambulatorio Andrologia & Endocrinologia ARNAS-Garibaldi, 95123 Catania, Italy. ., Research Center "The Great Senescence", University of Catania, 95100 Catania, Italy. ., Section of Endocrinology, Andrology and Internal Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy. .