Download to Citation Manager

Cell Biology International (2007) 31, 459–472 (Printed in Great Britain)

PDF

Legacy HTML

Citing articles

Experimental alcoholism and pathogenesis of prostatic diseases in UChB rats

Eduardo Marcelo Cåndido^a, César Alexandre Fabrega Carvalho^a, Francisco Eduardo Martinez^b and Valéria Helena Alves Cagnon^a*

^aDepartment of Anatomy, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas—UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6109, Campinas, 13083970 São Paulo, Brazil
^bDepartment of Anatomy, Institute of Biosciences, State University of São Paulo—UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that long-term alcohol treatment has negative effects on prostatic stromal–epithelial interaction. Thus, the aim of the present study was to analyze the histochemical, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural alterations that occur in the prostatic stroma and epithelium of rats submitted to chronic alcohol ingestion and alcohol abstinence, as well as to establish the relationship between these changes and prostatic diseases. Thirty male rats (10 Wistar and 20 UChB rats) were divided into three experimental groups: the control group received tap water, the alcoholic group received ethanol diluted to 10° G.L. for 150days, and the abstinent group received the same liquid diet as the alcoholic group up to 120days of treatment and only tap water for 30days thereafter. At the end of treatment, all animals were sacrificed and the ventral lobe of the prostate was removed and processed for histochemical, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analyses. In addition, plasma testosterone levels were measured. The results showed prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, infolding of the epithelium towards the stroma, stromal hypertrophy and the presence of inflammatory cells in alcoholic animals. In the abstinent group, alterations were noted mainly in the stromal area. In conclusion, ethanol triggers alterations in prostatic epithelial and stromal compartments, affecting the stromal microenvironment and predisposing the organ to pathological processes.

Key words: Alcoholism, UChB rat, Prostate, Stromal–epithelial interaction, Morphology.

^*Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 19 3788 6102; fax: +55 19 3289 3124.

Received 28 July 2006/24 September 2006; accepted 5 November 2006