Cadmium Concentration and Metallothionein Expression in Prostate Cancer and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia of Humans

Background/Purpose Cadmium (Cd) causes various genitourinary disorders and is a carcinogen for prostate cancer. Metallothionein (MT) is a protein that detoxifies heavy metals. We evaluated changes in Cd concentration and MT expression in human prostate cancer (CaP) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 2009-07, Vol.108 (7), p.554-559
Main Authors: Lee, Jane-Dar, Wu, Su-Mei, Lu, Lieng-Yi, Yang, Ya-Tang, Jeng, Shaw-Yeu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
benign prostatic hyperplasia
cadmium
Cadmium - analysis
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Internal Medicine
Male
metallothionein
Metallothionein - analysis
prostate cancer
Prostatic Hyperplasia - metabolism
Prostatic Neoplasms - metabolism
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background/Purpose Cadmium (Cd) causes various genitourinary disorders and is a carcinogen for prostate cancer. Metallothionein (MT) is a protein that detoxifies heavy metals. We evaluated changes in Cd concentration and MT expression in human prostate cancer (CaP) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Our goal was to clarify the relationship between Cd concentration and MT expression in prostatic diseases. Methods The experimental group consisted of 18 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for CaP. The control group consisted of 35 patients who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate for BPH. Tissue samples were acquired from the gross tumor site and from resected chips. We determined Cd concentration by atomic absorption, MT expression by immunoblotting, and immunohistochemical staining. The significance of between-group differences for these outcomes was analyzed using Student's t tests. Results There was no statistically significant difference in Cd concentration between the CaP and BPH groups. Immunoblots from both groups revealed a single band. The relative intensity of the MT band was 0.58 ± 0.09 in the BPH group and 0.17 ± 0.03 in the CaP group. MT expression in patients with BPH was 3.4-fold higher than in those with CaP. Conclusion MT may bind heavy metals and protect patients from CaP. Additional studies are needed to reveal the factors that influence the expression of MT in prostate epithelial cells, and to analyze the free and compound forms of Cd at the same time.
ISSN:0929-6646
DOI:10.1016/S0929-6646(09)60373-9