The Effects of High Fat Diet on the Incidence of Obesity and Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 Levels on Histological Changes in Prostate Wistar Rats.

Introduction: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a histopathological diagnosis characterized by the increase in stromal cells and epithelial cells of the prostate gland in the transitional zone surrounding the urethra. Obesity is the risk factor of BPH. The most frequent cause of obesity is a high-fat diet (HFD). Obesity and HFD lead to pro-inflammatory conditions. One of the pathomechanisms for the occurrence of BPH is a low-degree inflammatory factor, one of which is the level of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1/MCP-1. This study aims to determine the influence of HFD on the incidence of obesity and inflammatory factors (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1/MCP-1 levels) on the histopathological picture of the prostate.

Methods: Experimental research was performed on male Wistar rats with each of the 6 rats given normal fat (ND) and HFD intake and terminated at 8 weeks and 6 rats given each ND and HFD were terminated at 16 weeks. The determination of obesity was determined based on Lee's criteria which were categorized as obese if the Lee index >0.3 and non-obese if ≤0.3. Examination of circulating MCP-1 was carried out by the ELISA method and determination of prostatic hyperplasia was done by calculating the percentage of prostate glands that had a large per-field cystic dilatation on light microscopy examination. All data are analyzed statistically with the Fisher Exact Test and Spearman Correlation Test.

Results: Of the 12 rats that were given ND, none of them became obese according to Lee's criteria, on the other hand, of the 12 rats that were given HFD 8 became obese (66.7%, p = 0.001). Serum MCP-1 levels and the percentage of prostate glands that had cystic dilatation were significantly higher in mice receiving HFD than ND; both at week-8 (MCP-1; 18.87 vs 15.66) and (prostate gland experiencing cystic dilatation; 63.46% vs 47.24%) and week-16 (MCP-1; 21.27 vs 21.27) and (prostate gland experiencing cystic dilatation; 67.79% vs 56.39%). Spearman correlation analysis showed that only circulating MCP-1 levels were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) to the percentage of the prostate gland that had cystic dilatation; especially in week 16 (r = 0.713 and p < 0.001). At 8 weeks, it was not statistically significant (r = 0.406 and p = 0.095).

Conclusion: High fat intake has been shown to increase the risk of obesity, but obesity does not increase inflammatory status and the incidence of prostate glands with cystic dilatation. On the other hand, high-fat intake increases inflammatory status which in turn causes prostate glands to develop cystic dilatation.