Chimpanzees May Hold the Keys to Understanding BPH

Posted by admin on January 31st, 2010 No Comments

Chimps are cute, chimps are funny. But, did you know that these intelligent primates may be the best candidate for understanding human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)?

“The greatest obstacle to BPH research is the lack of an ideal animal model,” states researchers from the University of Tennessee in Memphis and the White Sands Research Center in Alamogordo in New Mexico. They note that the chimp is unique among primates in its genetic and physiological similarity to humans.

The researchers wondered if this similarity could make the chimp a good candidate for an animal model of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). To find out whether chimps develop this disease, and if so, do they develop it the same way as humans, they studied more than 60 chimps at an animal research center. When they compared the stages of the chimps’ lives to those of humans — one chimp year is about two and one-fourth human years — they found that the chimps do develop BPH and in a way that’s remarkably similar to that of humans.

The researchers examined biopsy tissues from the chimps’ prostates and found the same kinds of cellular changes with age that are found in humans. In addition, as with humans, chimps with these tissue changes also had enlarged prostates.

Blood tests revealed that chimps, like humans, produce prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and their PSA levels get higher with age and correlate with size of the prostate, as in humans.

The researchers also did urodynamic studies, measuring urine flow, bladder pressure and capacity, and residual urine. As with humans, chimps with increasing indications of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) also had higher bladder pressures and slower urine flow, indicating that the enlarged prostate was obstructing the urinary system.

Writing in “The Journal of Urology,” the researchers concluded that “male chimpanzees develop histologic signs of BPH at the same relative point in their life cycle as humans, with increase in grade as they age.” They point out that studying this process in chimps is easier, because their diet and environment doesn’t vary as much as in humans’, and they’re not as likely to be lost to follow-up.

The researchers conclude that the chimp model for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) may provide insight into how the disease develops, and “suggest new medical therapeutic strategies against this common disease.”

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