Lycopene Inhibits the Onset of Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis, According to Studies

By Kyle J. Norton

Prostatitis is a condition associated with the inflammation of the prostate and the areas around the prostate.

Chronic bacterial prostatitis is a medical condition of prostatitis induced by a bacterial infection.

According to the statistics provided by the American Family Physician, approximately 8.2 percent of men in the US are living with prostatitis. The conditions account for 8 percent of visits to urologists, and up to 1 percent of visits to primary care physicians.

Believe it or not, in 2000, prostatitis has cost over $84 million, including the charge of diagnosis and treatment.

The most common symptoms of prostatitis are painful, difficult and/or frequent urinating, groin pain, rectal pain, abdominal pain and/or low back pain, fever, chills, and body aches.

In severe cases, patients may also experience symptoms of urethral discharge, painful ejaculation or sexual dysfunction and blood in the urine.

The exact causes of prostatitis are not identified, some researchers suggested that nerve damage in the lower urinary tract caused by surgery or trauma to the area has been found to induce prostatitis in patients.

Conventionally, most cases of prostatitis are treated by antibiotics in cases of infection, alpha-blockers to relax the bladder neck and the muscle fibers and anti-inflammatory medicine to ease pain and discomforts.

Dr. JAMES J. STEVERMER, the lead scientist in the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis at the University of Missouri–Columbia School of Medicine, wrote, "If the patient responds to therapy, antibiotics are continued for at least three to four weeks, although some men require treatment for several months. A patient who does not respond might be evaluated for chronic nonbacterial prostatitis, in which nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, alpha-blocking agents, anticholinergic agents or other therapies may provide symptomatic relief".

Lycopene is a phytochemical found in tomato in the class of carotenoid, a natural pigment with no vitamin A activity found abundantly in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons, and papayas,

Tomatoes provide about 80% of the lycopene in the world diet. In plants, lycopene protects the host against excessive photodamage and performs various functions in photosynthesis.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of prostatitis, researchers evaluated the efficacy and the safety of a combination of Serenoa repens, selenium and lycopene extract + bromelain and methylsulfonylmethane extract associated with levofloxacin in patients with chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP).

The study included all patients with a clinical and instrumental diagnosis of CBP, admitted to a single Urological Institution from March to June 2015 were enrolled in this phase III study. 

All selected patients were randomized into two groups, Group A (n=40)received levofloxacin 500 mg o.d. for 14 days associated with lycopene and methylsulfonylmethane; Group B (n=39) received levofloxacin (500 mg o.d. for 14 days) only.

According to the results from the follow-up (T1), the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (CPSI), International Prostatic Symptom Score (IPSS) of group A were significantly lower compared to group B.
In other words, group A showed milder symptoms compared to group B.

Furthermore, the symptomatic and microbiological recurrence was also significantly lower in group A n=1) compared to group B (n=7).

Moreover, these change between groups was continued at the second follow-up visit (T2) observed by the questionnaire results.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "The combination of Serenoa repens, selenium, lycopene + bromelain and methylsulfonylmethane extracts improved the clinical efficacy of levofloxacin in patients affected by CBP without the development of side effects".

Taken altogether, lycopene found in tomato may be considered an adjunct therapy for the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis, pending on the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Serenoa repens associated with selenium and lycopene extract and bromelain and methylsulfonylmethane extract are able to improve the efficacy of levofloxacin in chronic bacterial prostatitis patients by Cai T1, Tiscione D, Gallelli L, Verze P, Palmieri A, Mirone V, Bartoletti R, Malossini G. (PubMed)
(2) Treatment of Prostatitis by JAMES J. STEVERMER, M.D., M.S.P.H., and SUSAN K. EASLEY, M.D. (the University of Missouri–Columbia School of Medicine, Columbia, Missouri)