Subcellular concentrations of calcium, zinc, and magnesium in benign nodular hyperplasia of the human prostate: X-ray microanalysis of freeze-dried cryosections.

Biopsies from human prostates were obtained from normal and hyperplastic glands. The intracellular concentrations of calcium, zinc, and magnesium were analyzed using X-ray microanalysis of freeze-dried cryosections. Two prostate biopsies were obtained from kidney donors, ages 19 and 50 years, without any sign of benign nodular hyperplasia. The normal tissues were frozen within 15 min after circulatory arrest. The central part of biopsies from eight elderly men suffering from benign nodular hyperplasia were frozen within 30 s after excision. Adjacent tissue was processed for light microscopy and histopathological diagnosis. All samples were fresh-frozen using liquid nitrogen cooled pliers, without the use of any freeze-protection, fixation, or staining. In both the normal and the hyperplastic prostates high concentrations (up to above 100 mmol/kg dry weight) of zinc were present in electron dense bodies in the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells. Together with zinc, about equal concentrations of magnesium were found. Calcium was detected in 4 to 8 times the concentration of zinc. Significant, positive correlation between calcium and zinc as well as between calcium and magnesium in the cytoplasm was a typical finding in both normal and hyperplastic glands. In six of eight patients, older than 60 years of age, high levels of calcium (17.0-38.8 mmol/kg dry weight) were observed in the nuclei of the epithelial cells, while very low values were found in the remaining two. In the two younger cases (19 and 50 years of age), the nuclear calcium level in prostatic epithelium was relatively low (about 10 mmol/kg dry weight). These observations suggest that an increase of intranuclear calcium with advancing age may be of pathogenetic significance to growth disturbances in the prostate.