ABSTRACT

A growing body of evidence has indicated that many trace elements play an important role in a number of biological processes by activating or inhibiting enzymatic reactions. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of trace elements in serum samples of patients with prostate cancer (PCa), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), chronic prostatitis (CP) and control subjects (healthy volunteers) in men. In this study, serum samples were provided by 42 subjects with PCa, 44 patients with BPH, 25 CP patients, and 40 control subjects. The levels of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), magnesium (Mg), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), molybdenum (Mo), and selenium (Se) in serum samples were analyzed. Significantly higher concentrations of Mn, Cu, Mo and lower levels of V, Se were found in PCa patients. Moreover, significantly lower levels of V, Mg, and Se were determined in BPH and CP patients. However, a significant increase of Mo level was found in patients with BPH and CP. The obtained results indicate that the changes of trace elements status may be important in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. Therefore, further studies are required to identify relationships between trace elements levels and prostatic diseases.