Papers of the Week

To explore the mechanism of microRNA-155 (miR-155) deficiency, protecting against experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) in a toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-dependent manner. After wild-type (WT) and miR-155 mice were injected with complete Freund's adjuvant and prostate antigen to establish EAP model, half were randomly selected for injection with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, a TLR4 ligand). The following experiments were then performed: von Frey filaments, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). And the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and the level of Malondialdehyde (MDA) were detected by corresponding kits. miR-155 mice with prostatitis exhibited the attenuated pelvic tactile allodynia/hyperalgesia and the suppressed TLR4/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway as compared with the WT mice with prostatitis. In addition, LPS enhanced the upregulation of miR-155 and the activation of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway in the prostatic tissues of WT mice with EAP. Furthermore, prostatitis mice had aggravated inflammation scores accompanying the increased interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, IL-6, interferon-γ, IL-12, and MDA in prostatic tissues with the decreased IL-10, SOD and GSH-Px, and the unaltered IL-4. Compared with the mice from the WT + EAP group and the miR-155 + EAP + LPS group, mice from the miR-155 + EAP group had decreased inflammation and oxidative stress. miR-155 deficiency ameliorated pelvic tactile allodynia/hyperalgesia in EAP mice and improved inflammation and oxidative stress in prostatic tissues in a TLR4-dependent manner involving NF-κB activation, thereby exerting a therapeutic effect in chronic prostatitis treatment.