Abstract
Nerve growth factor (NGF) has been found in the normal prostate of the Wistar rat and is regarded as an important prostatic mitogen. We have previously shown that chronic stress induced epithelial hyperplasia while sympathetic denervation caused atrophy in the male Wistar rat prostate. NGF may have been a contributing mechanism to the hyperplasia and atrophy response that was observed. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of NGF in the prostate of the male rat in response to chronic stress and denervation. Two weeks of restraint water-immersion stress were used to induce a chronic stress model in Wistar rats. Denervation of the peripheral sympathetic nerve was induced by 6-hydroxydopamine. The expression levels of NGF in the dissected prostate lobes were examined by immunohistochemistry. After 14 days of stress, proliferation of the epithelium in the ventral lobes was observed, whereas the dorsolateral lobes were almost unaffected. NGF immunoreactive protein was localized to the columnar secretory epithelium lines of the prostate tissue. Stress and denervation led to an increase in NGF expression in the ventral lobes. In conclusion, NGF was involved in the hyperplasia and atrophy in the prostate of the male rat in response to chronic stress and sympathetic denervation, and thus may be a contributing factor in the pathophysiology of the prostate.
Highlights
Nerve growth factor (NGF) has essential roles in the survival, development and differentiation of neurons in the nervous system [1]
Chronic stress induced a proliferative change in the epithelium of the ventral lobes, which was characterized by intraluminal villous enfolding, as well as the appearance of epithelial nodules, piling up of epithelial cells and a loss of cell polarity (Fig. 1B)
Prostate tissue derived from normal, benign prostatic hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma specimens has indicated that NGF immunoreactive protein is localized in the stromal compartment [12]
Summary
Nerve growth factor (NGF) has essential roles in the survival, development and differentiation of neurons in the nervous system [1]. It is known that NGF plays an important role in a variety of non‐neuronal systems. NGF and its receptors have been identified in normal prostatic tissue, benign prostatic. The prostate is the second most abundant source of NGF following the central nervous system [3]. Dysregulation of NGF signal transduction was identified in a number of human tumors [4]. NGF may contribute to benign proliferation, as it has been observed in chronic prostate and chronic pelvic pain syndrome, since the abundance of NGF in prostate secretions varied in proportion to pain severity
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