IL-6, TNFalfa, IL-10 in the seminal plasma of patients with bilateral male accessory gland infections after sequential therapy

AIM: In previous studies the authors have demonstrated a worse spermatic outcome associated to overproduction of ROS in infertile patients with urogenital infections extended to more glands (prostato-vesciculitis, PV) compared to what observed in patients with prostatitis (P) (cat II according to the National Institutes of Health [NIH]). Among the reasons of an inadequate post-therapeutical response, the duration of each therapeutical phase could be the only bias of empirism entrusted only to the monitoring of obvious ''traditional'' end-points, resulting underrated for various reasons (costs, lacking methodological standardization, choice of the cytokines to be monitored). The evaluation of other therapeutical endpoints (cytokine dosage in the seminal plasma; analysis of ROS) is therefore all important.METHODS: In order to evaluate how to optimize the therapeutic response in infertile patients with P o PV chronic-bacterial, the authors wanted to monitor the pattern of the pro-oxidants cytokines TNFalfa, IL-6 in the seminal plasma (met. sandwich ELISA high sensitivity <0.039 pg/mL, R&D System Europe Ltd, UK) and of IL-10 (chosen as antioxidant cytokine) after sequential therapy (antibiotic - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs antioxidant).RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The modifications of the levels of TNFalfa, IL-6 ed IL-10 recorded in the present study during the sequential therapy for P or PV microbic offer some issues for reflection for interesting clinical-diagnostical implications: 1) possible revision of sequences and/or duration of the therapeutical phases in course of PV; and 2) the role to assign to the IL-10 (assumed as anti-inflammatory cytokine).