Abstract
The amount of citric acid, the activities of aconitase and isocitrate dehydrogenase in 7 cases of normal prostates and 3 cases of hypertrophic prostates were examined. The effect of PE on these biochemical factors was also tested. A large amount of citric acid was found in hypertrophic prostates, the value of which was 164.6±25.15 μg/100 mg tissue, this being significantly high as compared to normal subjects which had a value of 70.13±12.23 μg/100 mg tissue. On the contrary, the activity of aconitase in hypertrophic prostates was significantly low as compared to normal subjects. In the activity of isocitrate dehydrogenase, there was not much difference between normal and hypertrophic prostates. Therefore, an accumulation of citric acid in hypertrophic prostates may be the result of a decrease in the activity of aconitase rather than that of isocitrate dehydrogenase. These biochemical factors in both normal and hypertrophic prostates were not affected by PE in vitro.
