The findings suggest that stress may make prostatitis worse by causing the body to make more prolactin than usual. For adult men who suffer from inflamed prostates each year, this news could help doctors identify contributing factors and develop more effective treatments. It s well-documented that stress induces prolactin release in both rats and humans, says Robinette. Some human males who have chronic abacterial prostatitis indicate that their symptoms seem to become worse during periods of stress. But doctors don t know much about this form of prostatitis, and they don t agree on where it comes from, Robinette says.
Chronic prostatitis is the least studied and least understood of the major human prostate diseases.
NC State s College of Veterinary Medicine, hopes his findings about prostatitis in rats will advance our understanding of the human condition. He says the extent to which the rat models human prostatitis is unknown. But, he says, the rat s lateral prostate lobe, which is most susceptible to inflammation, has similar origins to the areas of the human prostate that often become inflamed or cancerous. In previous studies, Robinette had concluded that the hormone estradiol causes prostate inflammation in rats, and that prolactin was responsible for mediating this response. With the documented knowledge that stress induces prolactin release, he set out to explore the link between stress, prolactin and inflammation of the prostate.