Abstract
The effect of age on the mass fraction of 19 chemical elements in the intact prostate of 50 apparently healthy 0-30-year-old males was investigated by neutron activation analysis with high-resolution spectrometry of short-lived radionuclides and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Mean values (M ± standard error of the mean) for mass fraction (in milligrams per kilogram, on dry weight basis) of chemical elements were as follows: Al, 77 ± 17; B, 1.31 ± 0.29; Ba, 4.0 ± 1.2; Br, 37.7 ± 4.3; Ca, 1,536 ± 189; Cl, 13,414 ± 949; Cu, 12.3 ± 2.1; Fe, 132 ± 11; K, 11,547 ± 468; Li, 0.064 ± 0.009; Mg, 922 ± 89; Mn, 1.88 ± 0.16; Na, 9,834 ± 411; P, 6,741 ± 335; S, 8,034 ± 251; Si, 199 ± 34; Sr, 1.40 ± 0.19; and Zn, 277 ± 33. The upper limit of mean mass fraction of V was ≤0.24. This work revealed that there is significant tendency for the mass fractions of Ca, K, Mg, and Zn in the prostate tissue of healthy individuals to increase with age from the time of birth up to 30 years. It means that Ca, K, Mg, and Zn mass fractions in prostate tissue are the androgen-dependent parameters. Our finding of a positive correlation between the prostatic Zn and Ca, K, Mg, P, and S mass fractions indicates that there is a special relationship of Zn with some main electrolytes (Ca, K, and Mg) and with P- and S-containing compounds in the prostate. It was shown also that high levels of Al, B, Ba, Br, Cl, Li, Na, and Sr mass fraction in prostate tissue do not indicate a direct involvement of these elements in the reproductive function of the prostate.
