The Influence of Risk Factors on Epigenetic Changes in Patients with Benign Prostate Hypertrophy.

Introduction and Objectives. Epigenetic changes can be reversible because they modify the activity or expression of genes without DNA alteration. There are some common trigger factors involved in the occurrence of the diseases, like smoking, alcohol consumption, metabolic syndrome (glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia and obesity), environmental factors, lifestyle and unhealthy alimentation. Our study aims to evaluate the influence of known trigger factors on epigenetic changes (on the 5-methyl-cytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethyl-cytosine (5hmC) variations, where 5mC is the global methylation marker, and 5hmC reflects the demethylation stage) in newly diagnosed benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) patients. Materials and Methods. The study population comprises 200 of male adults over 50 years who provided written consent to participate and fulfill the inclusion criteria. We categorized the study patients in two groups: 181 newly diagnosed BPH patients and 19 clinically healthy patients, as a control group. Human genomic DNA was extracted from fresh peripheral white blood cells using the QIAamp DNA Blood Maxi Kit. The 5mC and 5hmC content of genomic white blood cell DNA in patients with BPH and control samples was determined by colorimetric ELISA. Results. Our results show that patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases showed significantly higher values of 5mC compared to the control group. Patienst with obesity, body mass index (BMI) > 30, smokers and those who consumed daily alcohol showed significantly higher values of 5mC compared to the control group and normal BMI patients. Instead, the values of global demethylation (5hmC) remained relatively constant in all of these groups. Conclusions. In conclusion we can say, that epigenetic markers, especially 5mC, were directly influenced by alcohol and tobacco consumption, and obesity and type 2 diabetes are negative prognostic factors for the evolution of BPH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]