Trichomonas Vaginalis: a possible foe to prostate cancer

In this study, the effect of Trichomonas vaginalis (T. Vag) culture supernatant on prostate cancer cells was investigated. It is found that T. Vag supernatant inhibited growth of PC-3 prostate cancer by the mechanism of upregulation of an important anti-proliferative protein p21 and downregulation of an important anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 [1]. The growth inhibition effect of culture supernatant of T. Vag is also true when testing another prostate cancer cell line DU145. This strongly indicates that its growth inhibitory effect is not limited to a specific prostate cancer cell line.

T. Vag is a common sexually transmitted extracellular protozoan that may cause urethritis and prostatitis in men [2, 3]. Many male patients with the infection of T. Vag remain asymptomatic resulting in only limited knowledge available regarding its relationship with prostate cancer. The presence of T. Vag has been shown in normal prostate gland as well as in hyperplastic prostate gland [2, 4]. Furthermore, T. Vag has also been shown to exist in the prostates in patients with prostatitis, urinary tract infection and other prostatic disease [5-7]. Our study stands on these findings and extends the knowledge that a seemly unwelcomed T. Vag might be potentially beneficial to patients with prostate cancer.

Despite the interesting finding, it might be necessary to emphasize that it should be cautious to interpret our results due to lacking of in vivo animal or clinical data. Further clinical study is warranted to directly investigate the role of T. Vag in the initiation and/or promotion of prostate cancer. Nevertheless, our study suggests that the usage of a “bad guy” might be an alternative strategy to constrain another “bad guy”.

Written by: Ziwen Zhu M.S.^,*, Yujiang Fang M.D. Ph.D.,*
Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology, Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Des Moines, IA, *Department of Surgery, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO

Read the Abstract

References:
[1] Z. Zhu, K.T. Davidson, A. Brittingham, M.R. Wakefield, Q. Bai, H. Xiao, Y. Fang, Trichomonas vaginalis: a possible foe to prostate cancer, Medical Oncology, 33 (2016) 1-8.

[2] D. Mitteregger, S.W. Aberle, A. Makristathis, J. Walochnik, W. Brozek, M. Marberger, G. Kramer, High detection rate of Trichomonas vaginalis in benign hyperplastic prostatic tissue, Medical microbiology and immunology, 201 (2012) 113-116.

[3] O. Twu, D. Dessí, A. Vu, F. Mercer, G.C. Stevens, N. De Miguel, P. Rappelli, A.R. Cocco, R.T. Clubb, P.L. Fiori, Trichomonas vaginalis homolog of macrophage migration inhibitory factor induces prostate cell growth, invasiveness, and inflammatory responses, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111 (2014) 8179-8184.

[4] W. Gardner Jr, D. Culberson, B. Bennett, Trichomonas vaginalis in the prostate gland, Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine, 110 (1986) 430-432.

[5] M. Ohkawa, K. Yamaguchi, S. Tokunaga, T. Nakashima, S. Fujita, The incidence of Trichomonas vaginalis in chronic prostatitis patients determined by culture using a newly modified liquid medium, Journal of Infectious Diseases, 166 (1992) 1205-1206.

[6] D.J. Hoffman, G.D. Brown, F.H. Wirth, B.S. Gebert, C.L. Bailey, E.K. Anday, Urinary Tract Infection With Trichomonas vaginalis in a Premature Newborn Infant and the Development of Chronic Lung Disease, J Perinatol, 23 (2003) 59-61.

[7] D. Petrin, K. Delgaty, R. Bhatt, G. Garber, Clinical and microbiological aspects ofTrichomonas vaginalis, Clinical microbiology reviews, 11 (1998) 300-317.

Login