Rat postnatal prostate development is impaired by in vitro high-glucose environment

The prostate development has an important postnatal period where cell proliferation begins at the first days after birth and is related to gland growth and ramification. Any metabolic and/or hormonal changes occurring during the postnatal period can interfere with prostate branching. Hyperglycemia is a common condition in low-weight preterm babies at neonatal period and also a disorder found in the offspring of obese mothers. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the in vitro effects of a glucose-rich environment during prostate postnatal development. Wistar rats prostate were removed at birth and cultured for 1, 2 and 3 days in DMEM under normal (5.5 mM) or elevated (7 and 25 mM) glucose concentrations. Samples were processed for morphological analysis, PCNA and smooth muscle α-actin immunohistochemistry, evaluation of active caspase-3, ERK1/2 and Wnt5a gene expression. High glucose concentrations reduced the number of prostatic buds and proliferating cells. The natural increase in smooth muscle cells and collagen deposition observed in control prostates during the first 3 days of development was reduced by elevated glucose concentrations. The amount of active caspase-3 was higher in prostates incubated at 7 mM and TGF-β levels also increased sharply after both glucose concentrations. Additionally, high glucose environment decreased ERK 1/2 activation and increased Wnt5a expression. These data show that high levels of glucose during the first postnatal days affected prostate development by inhibiting cell proliferation which impairs bud branching and this was associated with anti-proliferative signals such as decreased ERK1/2 activation and increased Wnt5a expression.