Comparative study of zinc levels in benign and malignant lesions of prostate

BACKGROUND: Normal human prostate accumulates higher level of zinc than any other soft tissue in the body. In contrast, the zinc levels in prostate cancer are markedly decreased from the levels detected in non-prostate tissues. Earlier techniques of estimation of Zinc ion (chemical estimation or polarography) did not help to arrive at a specific correlation of the metal ion with development of disease. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) has been used in this study to find out if there is any change occurring in the serum zinc levels under diseased conditions.
AIMS: This study aims to investigate the serum zinc levels in disorders of prostate, so as to find a correlation to either reinforce or refute any claims of a relationship between them as a diagnostic or screening tool.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 80 patients with symptoms of prostatic diseaseof prostatic disease (normal baseline group comprised of 20 men, who had normal prostate on initial workup).Blood samples of all 80 cases and prostate tissue of 60 patients with enlarged prostate were taken for analysis. Serum sample was subjected to Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry ( AAS) for analysis of serum zinc levels. For statistical analysis student′s ′t′ test (unpaired) was used.
RESULTS: Serum zinc levels showed an approximate rise of 78% in cases of benign prostatic hypertrophy while a fall of approximately 37% in those with prostate cancers as compared to normal individuals.
CONCLUSION: The plasma zinc levels (as compared to normal individuals) were markedly raised in cases of benign prostatic disease and were dramatically lowered in patients with carcinoma prostate. This clearly indicates that both these diseases signify the opposite ends of the wide spectrum with regards to serum zinc levels; and that it can prove as an evaluation tool for the diagnosis / screening of prostate diseases. Also, the mean plasma zinc level in cases of carcinoma prostate with dissemination was not very diverse from those without metastasis. This indicated that metastasis in cases of carcinoma prostate had practically no effect on plasma zinc levels.