Does Metabolic Syndrome or its Components Correlate With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Patients?

BACKGROUND: Metabolic Syndrome (MS) has become a global public health and has been suggested to be a risk factor for Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS). Studies evaluating the association between the rate of the MS and LUTS often showed controversial results. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to reveal the relevance of MS and its components on the frequency and severity of the LUTS that were seen with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) in Turkish men or not. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, 237 patients referred to urology policlinic with BPH were retrospectively scanned between April 2009 and April 2013. Patients with normal digital rectal examination and the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) level of ≤ 4 ng/mL were evaluated using the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and all the data of the patients' body, including Body Mass Index (BMI), lipid parameters, preprandial blood glucose, and waist circumference. Seventy-four patients (31.3%) with mild IPSS (0-7) was group 1; 97 patients (40.9%) with moderate IPSS (8 - 19) group 2 and 66 patients (27.8%) with severe IPSS (20-35) were defined as group 3. group 4 consisted of 117 healthy controls. Three groups and controls were compared about MS and its components. The diagnosis criteria of The Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Turkey were used in MS diagnosis. Also, BMI, lipid parameters, preprandial blood glucose, waist circumference, and blood pressure were used as MS parameters. RESULTS: The average age of patients in group 1 was 69.8 ± 7.2; in group 2, 69.1 ± 7.4; 68.3 ± 7.1 in group 3 and 70.2 ± 7.2 in the control group. Metabolic syndrome was determined at 37 patients (50%) in group 1, 45 patients (46.5%) in group 2, 32 patients (48%) in group 3 and 52 patients (44.4%) in controls and no statistically significant correlation was detected between LUTS and MS in BPH (P = 0.113). In the comparison of the four groups in the point of MS parameters, no significant correlation was detected in the levels of total cholesterol (P = 0.337), fasting glucose (P = 0.291), BMI (P = 0.452), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL, P = 0.069) and triglyceride (P = 0.307). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, the evidence is not enough to support the hypothesis of the relevance between MS and LUTS. Wide-ranging, prospective and multicentric studies are needed to research the relevance between MS and LUTS in BPH.