CHARACTERISATION OF PROSTATE TISSUE AND EXPRESSED PROSTATIC SECRETION IN PATIENTS WITH PROSTATE DISORDERS IN LAGOS NIGERIA

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most prevalent cancer in men, particularly affecting those of Black African descent. Nigeria currently has the fourth highest risk for PCa mortality in the world. The microbiome of the prostate has emerged as a critical factor in understanding the aetiology and progression of prostate diseases, such as prostate cancer (PCa), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), benign stromal hyperplasia (BSH) and prostatitis (PRO). This study was conducted to comparatively characterize the microbiome present in prostate tissue and expressed prostatic secretion (EPS) from patients diagnosed with PCa, BPH, BSH and PRO. A total of 30 study participants comprising of 15 prostate cancer, 10 benign prostatic hyperplasia, 2 benign stromal hyperplasia and 3 prostatitis subjects. Samples were collected from the urology clinic of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja and analysed to identify and quantify bacterial species, assessing the diversity and composition of the microbial communities. Subjects without prostate (15) cancer were used as control subjects. By employing cultural and 16SrRNA sequencing techniques, uro-pathogens were isolated from the samples. The antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out on these isolates. Prostate tissue and EPS samples from BPH patients demonstrated a higher prevalence of bacterial taxa, including Staphylococcus scuri, Bacillus mycoides, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pyogene and Bacillus subtilis. Conversely, PCa patients exhibited an increased presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Citrobacter freudii, Pseudomonas putida, Staphylococcus condimentii, and Proteus mirabilis, which have been implicated in chronic inflammation and carcinogenesis. A high abundance of Lactobacillus vaginalis, Staphylococcus carnosus and Zymononas mobilis were observed in the prostate tissue. PCa-associated microbiome displayed reduced microbial diversity compared to other prostate disorders, suggesting a possible dysbiosis linked to cancer progression.