CORRELATIONS BETWEEN HIGH-MOBILITY GROUP PROTEIN B1, BECLIN-1, AND LC3 AND PROSTATE VOLUME, BLOOD PROSTATE-SPECIFIC ANTIGEN, AND METABOLIC INDEXES

Xiaoxin Li*, Jian Zhu*, Lvzhong Xie*, Guangming Gong**, #

*Department of Urology, Nantong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nantong, PR China - **Department of Pharmaceutics, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, PR China

Objective: We sought to elucidate the correlations between high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1), Beclin-1, and LC3 and prostate volume, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and metabolic indexes.

Methods: The prostate tissue specimens of 80 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia treated in our hospital from September 2016 to January 2019 were collected. These patients were divided into an infiltration group (n = 48) and a noninfiltration group (n = 32) according to whether the prostate tissue cells were accompanied by inflammatory cell infiltration or not. Changes in the prostate tissues of each group were observed with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The expressions of HMGB1, Beclin-1, and LC3 in each group were detected by immunohistochemistry. The HMGB1, Beclin-1, and LC3 protein expressions were measured by immunoblotting assay. The prostate volume, blood PSA, metabolic indexes, and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) values were compared between the two groups. Pearson’s correlation test was used to analyse the correlation of HMGB1, Beclin-1, and LC3 with prostate volume, blood PSA, and metabolic indexes.

Results: In the noninfiltration group, the prostate epithelial cells showed mastoid hyperplasia and columnar epithelial structures, while, in the infiltration group, inflammatory cell infiltration could be seen in the glands, periglandular tissue, and interstitial tissue with benign prostatic hyperplasia and a scattered or clustered form. The results of this study revealed that Beclin-1 and LC3 were mainly expressed in the cytoplasm, and positive expression showcased pale yellow or brown granules. HMGB1, meanwhile, was mainly expressed in the prostate epithelial cells, with a similar brown-yellow particle precipitation observed. When compared with the infiltration group, the expressions of HMGB1, Beclin-1, and LC3 were significantly decreased in the prostatic hyperplasia tissues of the noninfiltration group (P<0.05). Separately, as compared with the infiltration group, the prostate volume and IPSS values of the noninfiltration group were obviously lower (P<0.05), while the indexes of the noninfiltration group-such as the blood PSA, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose-were decreased, although the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). According to Pearson’s correlation analysis, the expressions of HMGB1, Beclin-1 and LC3, were positively correlated with prostate volume and IPSS score (P<0.05) but not with metabolic indexes (P>0.05).