Prostate involvement during sexually transmitted infections as measured by prostate-specific antigen concentration

Abstract

Background: We investigated prostate involvement during sexually transmitted infections by measuring serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a marker of prostate infection, inflammation, and/or cell damage in young, male US military members. Methods: We measured PSA before and during infection for 299 chlamydia, 112 gonorrhoea, and 59 non-chlamydial, non-gonococcal urethritis (NCNGU) cases, and 256 controls. Results: Chlamydia and gonorrhoea, but not NCNGU, cases were more likely to have a large rise (40%) in PSA than controls (33.6%, 19.1%, and 8.2% vs 8.8%, P0.0001, 0.021, and 0.92, respectively). Conclusion: Chlamydia and gonorrhoea may infect the prostate of some infected men. © 2011 Cancer Research UK All Rights Reserved.