BACKGROUND: The objective of this work is to verify total PSA in young and adult Syrian Hamster and demonstrate a possible correlation among those levels and sexual anexes histological changes: prostate, seminal vesicles and testicles. METHODS: On this experimental study ten young Hamsters were used, with ages below seven weeks, and twenty animals with age above one year. PSA dosage and a histological analysis of sexual anexes were performed in both groups in order to get the correlation among the PSA level and histological changes. RESULTS: The average age for young animals (control group) was 46.7 days (Std Dev=1.16). In adult animals (experimental group) the average age was undetermined, although all groups were above one year old, at the death moment. Average weigh of those young animals, when dead, was 57.0g (Std Dev= 3.5) and adult animals 126.5g (Std Dev=19.3) being acceptable. PSA was dosed in old adult animals plasma and in seven of the youngest ones. PSA was not detected in three animals of young group. Young animals PSA average was 0.252ng/mL (nanogran per mililiter) and in adults some presented 0.325ng/mL. Young animals did not present histologic changes. In adult hamsters, fourteen (70.0%) of them presented change in their sexual anexes: ten (50.0%) PBH (prostate benign hiperplasia), one (5.0%) HBP, prostatis and seminal vesicle inflammation, one (5.0%) seminal vesicle suppurative inflammation, one (5.0%) testicle infarct and prostatitis. There was no statistic relationship between PSA levels and PBH, although those with PBH evidenced PSA higher than those without PBH. The relationship between PSA levels and seminal vesicle and testicle changes were not yet determined. CONCLUSION: The Syrian Hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, present dosed PSA in blood, considering that, its average value for young Hamster is 0.252ng/mL and 0.328ng/mL for adults. To get a correlation between PSA levels and sexual anex histological changes was not possible in the present work.
Syrian hamster; Mesocricetus auratus; Prostate Specific antigen; PSA
