Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and sexual behavior of young adults and middle-aged people presenting to health examination centers in Korea.

Sexually transmitted infections lead to considerable costs and problems from a socioeconomic perspective, as well as in terms of patient health. In order to effectively manage sexually transmitted infections, it is necessary to establish basic epidemiologic data in this field. This study investigated prevalence rates of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia among 1612 persons aged 20-59 years among the general population who visited health examination centers in Korea, and examined the sexual behavior of young and middle-aged adults using a questionnaire survey. In total, 807 males and 805 females participated in this study, and among the 1612 subjects, 6, 7, and 90 were gave positive results in syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia infection tests, respectively, indicating prevalence rates of 0.37, 0.43, and 5.58%. In the questionnaire survey, 85.8% of the respondents answered that they had not taken any test for a sexually transmitted infection, and chlamydia-positive respondents were observed to have had a significantly higher number of sexual partners. Among all of the respondents, 43.7% used a condom only sometimes during sexual intercourse, while 15% did not usually do so. Future studies to follow up the incidence and prevalence rates of sexually transmitted infections in detail in young adults and middle-aged people are necessary, and the results of this study will be utilized as basic data for them.

Does finasteride have a preventive effect on chronic bacterial prostatitis? Pilot study using an animal model.

AIM: To evaluate the preventive effect of finasteride on chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP), Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control, ciprofloxacin, finasteride, and ciprofloxacin/finasteride. METHODS: All drug pretreatments were conducted for 4 weeks, and then experimental CBP was induced by instillation of a bacterial suspension (Escherichia coli Z17 O2:K1;H-). RESULTS: After 4 weeks, results of microbiological cultures of prostate and urine samples as well as histological findings of the prostate in each group were analyzed. Finasteride significantly reduced bacterial infection and decreased inflammatory cell infiltration in prostatic tissue compared with the control group. The group given both finasteride and antibiotic showed a greater inhibition of bacterial infection in the tissue than those given either finasteride or antibiotic alone. CONCLUSION: Our experiments suggest the possibility that finasteride has a preventive effect on development of CBP, although there is as yet no consensus on the mechanism of this effect.

Anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects of nanocatechin in a chronic bacterial prostatitis rat model.

Chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) is one of the most common relapsing urinary tract infection (UTI) in males. Catechin, an extract of green tea, is known to have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects against various bacteria. However, catechin can be easily degenerated during digestion, and this may result in decreased absorption into the body. Nanocatechin is catechin coated with hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose by nanotechnology. It reduces degeneration during digestion and enhances absorption of catechin into the body. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effect of nanocatechin on CBP and also analyzed plasma concentration of catechins to evaluate absorptivity in an animal model. Forty rats demonstrating CBP were randomly divided into four groups: control, ciprofloxacin, catechin, and nanocatechin. After treatment, the results of microbiological culture of prostate and urine samples as well as histological findings of the prostate in each group were analyzed. Plasma concentration of catechins in catechin and nanocatechin groups was compared. The use of ciprofloxacin, catechin, and nanocatechin showed statistically significant decrease in bacterial growth and improvement in prostatic inflammation compared with the control group. The nanocatechin group showed statistically significant decrease in bacterial growth and improvement in prostatic inflammation compared with the catechin group. Plasma concentrations of epicatechin, gallocatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin gallate were significantly higher in the nanocatechin group than those in the catechin group. These results suggest that nanocatechin has better antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects on rat CBP than catechin due to higher absorption into the body.

Epidemiological characteristics of genital herpes and condyloma acuminata in patients presenting to urologic and gynecologic clinics in Korea.

As viral sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are hard to cure completely and because they recur frequently, the management of patients and the prevention of the spread of viral STIs are important, rather than focusing on their treatment, unlike the focus for bacterial STIs. Thus, their prevalence and epidemiological characteristics should be investigated first. This study examined the prevalence of genital herpes and condyloma acuminata in patients visiting urologic and gynecologic clinics and evaluated the epidemiological characteristics of these diseases through questionnaire surveys. Out of 167,767 patients, 1,585 were reported to have genital herpes and condyloma acuminata, and the prevalences of the two diseases were 0.58 and 0.37%, respectively. The percentage of patients with viral STIs as a proportion of the total number of patients with STIs including bacterial STIs, was 35.6%. While the prevalence of genital herpes was relatively higher in middle-aged patients, that of condyloma acuminata was observed to be higher in relatively young patients. Among the patients participating in the questionnaire survey, 39.5 and 21.0% responded that they had experienced recurrence of genital herpes and condyloma acuminata, respectively. In conclusion, because the prevalences of genital herpes and condyloma acuminata as viral STIs were not trivial compared to that of bacterial STIs, and because of their frequent recurrence, policies adjusted to the characteristics of these viral STIs and more studies on the management of recurrence are necessary.

Do Escherichia coli extract and cranberry exert preventive effects on chronic bacterial prostatitis? Pilot study using an animal model.

Traditional first-line treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) is administration of empirical antibiotics. However, the efficacy rate is low and long-term antibiotic therapy can result in adverse events and bacterial resistance. For these reasons, a new treatment or preventive modality that can replace traditional antibiotic therapy is required. There are several reports that E. coli extract has a preventive effect on recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI). Cranberries are also known to have beneficial effects in preventing UTI. To evaluate the preventive effect of E. coli extract and cranberries on CBP, 48 rats were randomly divided into 4 groups; control, ciprofloxacin, E. coli extract, and cranberry groups. All drug treatments were conducted for 3 weeks, and then we developed a CBP rat model. After 4 weeks, the results of microbiological culture of prostate and urine samples as well as histological findings for the prostate were analyzed for each group. The infection rate in the ciprofloxacin group was significantly lower than that in the control group. The microbiological cultures of the prostate and urine samples demonstrated reduced bacterial growth in all experimental groups compared with the control group. Histopathologic examination showed significantly decreased prostatic inflammation in all groups compared with the control group. These results suggest that E. coli extract has a potential preventive effect on the development of CBP, and cranberry also exhibits promising activity in this context.

Cystadenoma of the seminal vesicle.

Primary tumors of the seminal vesicle are quite rare with most reported cases being carcinomas. However, benign tumors of the seminal vesicle are extremely rare. We report a case of a cystadenomas of the seminal vesicles in a 46-year-old asymptomatic man, which was detected incidentally by computed tomography.

Preliminary experience with a terpene mixture versus ibuprofen for treatment of category III chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

To evaluate the efficacy of a terpene mixture (rowatinex) compared to ibuprofen, patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) were randomly selected to either receive rowatinex 200 mg t.i.d. or ibuprofen 600 mg t.i.d. After a 6-week treatment, the decrease in the mean total NIH-CPSI score was significant in both groups from 21.4 to 15.3, (6.1 (p < 0.01) and from 21.2 to 16.8, (4.4 (p = 0.04) in the rowatinex and ibuprofen group, respectively. The rate of definite improvement as defined as 25% improvement in the total score was superior (p = 0.04) in the rowatinex group (68%) versus the ibuprofen group (40%). Judging from these results, rowatinex gave significant symptomatic relief and may be of benefit for many men diagnosed with CP/CPPS. Further, including the placebo-controlled studies are necessary to define its role in the management of this difficult to treat disease.

Antibacterial effect of intraprostatic zinc injection in a rat model of chronic bacterial prostatitis.

High levels of prostatic zinc are associated with prostatic antimicrobial activities and are depressed in patients with chronic prostatitis. We investigated the inhibition of bacterial growth in the rat prostate with chronic prostatitis after intraprostatic injection of zinc and compared two different types of zinc delivery. Ninety male Wistar rats were used in the study. Experimental chronic bacterial prostatitis was induced by instillation of bacterial suspension (Escherichia coli 10(8) per ml) into the prostatic urethra. Animals were followed for 4 weeks and then injected intraprostatically with either 0.2 ml of zinc liposome (ZL) or zinc solution (ZS) (0.04 M zinc sulphate) or 0.2 ml of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for the controls. Ten rats in each group were sacrificed 4, 6 and 8 weeks after injection. The inhibition of inflammation and its consequences were analyzed microbiologically and histologically. Prostatic zinc concentrations were measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Microbiological culture of the prostates demonstrated bacterial growth inhibition by the intraprostatic injection of zinc. The average infection rates and mean log(10) cfu/g of the zinc-treated groups were significantly lower than those of the controls. The histopathology showed resolving prostatitis in zinc-treated groups compared with the controls. Prostatic zinc levels were higher in the zinc-treated groups than in the controls 4 and 6 weeks after zinc injection (P<0.05). However, the ZL and ZS groups were found to be effectively identical in terms of prostatic zinc levels, bacterial cfu, and histological findings throughout the experiment period. The intraprostatic injection of zinc inhibited bacterial growth by increasing zinc levels in the rat prostatitis model. Our results suggest that the local application of zinc to the prostate may be a new treatment for chronic bacterial prostatitis at the point of its pathogenesis.