Bacteria in the prostate tissue of men with idiopathic prostatic inflammation.

PURPOSE

Although antibiotics represent the first line of treatment for prostatitis syndromes, physicians can document infection in remarkably few cases. We examined the relationship of genitourinary infection to inflammatory prostatitis in 85 subjects without bacteriuria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Evaluation consisted of cultures of urethra, urine and transperineal prostate biopsies, specifically for commensal and fastidious organisms, and leukocyte counts of expressed prostatic secretions.

RESULTS

Men with inflamed expressed prostatic secretions (25) were more likely to have any bacterial isolation (p = 0.01), positive cultures for anaerobic bacteria (p = 0.03), higher total bacterial counts (p = 0.02) and more bacteria, species isolated (p = 0.02) in prostate biopsy cultures than men without expressed prostatic secretion inflammation (60).

CONCLUSIONS

Bacterial colonization/invasion of the prostate may be associated with inflammatory prostatitis in some cases.