Does anyone know if there is a relationship between ankylosing spondylitis and chronic prostatitis? How often does non-bacterial chronic prostatitis occur in AS? Is it more often in when compared to RA patients or patients without rheumatic disease? If yes, what is the reason of that?
Reactive arthritis (used to be called Reiter’s syndrome) is a seronegative spondylo-arthropathy associated with enteritis or veneral disease (urethritis, cevicitis, prostatitis). The spinal symptoms/signs vary from sacroiliitis (20% of cases proven by X-Rays) to florid ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (10% of cases). Chronic prostatitis is present in up to 80% of reactive arthritis.
There is no proof to link Rheumatoid arthritis with any infection anywhere. Patients with Reiter’s and AS are more likely to have chronic prostatitis than people with RA (RM Mason et al, 1958).
As for the mechanism of developing reactive arthritis after infection, it is poorly understood. Arthritis here is an aberrant immunologic reaction (non-infectious), facilitated in people bearing a specific HLA antigen such as HLA B27. The question is not why there is chronic prostatitis in AS (as part of reactive arthritis), but rather why some people develop AS after prostatitis while others do not.
EG: 1-3% of all patients with a nonspecific urethritis develop an episode of arthritis. The incidence is 1-4% following enteric infection. This number jumps to 20-25% following bacterial enteritis in HLA-B27-positive individuals
hi
I don't think anyone has looked into this. I had a patient some years ago who had this problem and was asking me.
It is a good topic to look at
BR
I agree with dr. Majda Khoury in believing that it can be a Reiter's syndrome because of the non-bacterial chronic prostatitis
Thank You for Yours answer. I am interesting in any association between rheumatic diseases including different types of vasculitis and prostatitis, since there are any data in the literature. The Reiter's syndrom is one of (well known) example.
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