Semiquantitative evaluation of α1 A-Adrenoceptor subtype mRNA in human hypertrophied and non-hypertrophied prostates: Regional comparison

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to compare semiquantitatively the amount of α 1 a -adrenoceptor subtype mRNA in urethral, central and peripheral areas in benign hypertrophied prostates and non-hypertrophied prostate by the competitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Prostates from twenty cases of men with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and 5 cases of bladder tumor without BPH were obtained for this study. The mRNA was extracted from the urethral, central and peripheral areas of each prostate, and quantitative RT-PCR was performed using the ratio of PCR product of α 1 a -adrenoceptor mRNA/ β 2-microglobulin mRNA. The ratio for the central area of the hypertrophied prostate was significantly greater than that for the same area of the non-hypertrophied prostate (p < 0.05). In contrast, the urethral area showed no significant difference between the two prostate conditions. The central area of the hypertrophied prostate showed the tendency to have an increased α 1 a -adrenoceptor mRNA level compared with the urethral area, though no statistical difference was recognized because of the high standard error. Regional differences in the α 1 a -adrenoceptor mRNA in the non-hypertrophied prostate were rarely observed. The present finding demonstrates that the increased α 1 a -adrenoceptor mRNA content found in the hypertrophied prostate (1) was due to that in the central area.