Iperplasia prostatica e uretale in vitelli trattati con ormoni steroidei sessuali: studio sul significato patogenetico delle cellule neuroendocrine e dell'interazione stroma-epitelio

In beef-breading, illegal administration of sex steroid hormones with anabolic purposes is suspected as a still diffuse practice in many European countries. The continuous evolution in strategies of treatment has determined an attenuation or the disappearance of the classical ante mortem and macroscopic lesions on animals. Histopathological evaluation of bovine prostate and urethra, considered as the target organs of estrogenic and androgenic hormones, has proved to be an important method to detect the use of anabolics in bovine production with preventive implications. Typical histological lesions following to steroid hormones administration are urethral and prostatic hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia, with variable severity and distribution in relation to the specific hormone or hormones cocktail administered. In human prostate, role of neuroendocrine (NE) cells and stromal-epithelial interaction in the pathogenesis of benign prostatic hyperplasia has been extensively analyzed. In this study, immunoreactivity to Serotonin and Chromogranin A, considered as typical markers of NE cell, to fibroblast growth factors (FGF-2 and -7) and interleukins (IL-8 and -1a) has been evaluated on specimens of urethro-prostatic complex collected from experimentally hormones treated veal calves; moreover, it has been considered the expression of fibroblast growth factors receptors (FGF-R). Urethral Serotonin-positive NE cells have showed to be sensitive to hormonal treatment. Also concerning stromal-epithelial interaction, prostatic expression of FGF-2, IL-8 and FGF-R has revealed a significant correlation to administration of steroid hormones. No data have been obtained about interaction between FGF-7 and IL-1a. In conclusion, this study confirm the involvement of NE cells and stromal-epithelial interaction on the pathogenesis of bovine hormones induced prostatic and urethral hyperplasia, suggesting some important implication in evaluation of lesions in suspected treated animals.