The questions about the androgen control and the
involvement of trace elements in prostatic reproductive function still remain
unanswered. One valuable way to elucidate the situation is to compare the
values for the prostatic mass fractions of trace elements in pre-and
post-pubertal boys. The effect of age on the mass fraction of 54 trace elements
in intact prostate of 50 apparently healthy 0-30 years old
males was investigated by neutron
activation analysis and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Mean
values (M ± SΕΜ) for mass fraction (milligram per kilogram, on dry-weight
basis) of trace elements were: Ag
0.062 ± 0.008, Al 80 ± 18, Au 0.0092 ± 0.0024, B 5.9 ± 3.5, Be 0.0034 ± 0.0009,
Bi 0.018 ± 0.010, Br 26 ± 3, Cd 0.26 ± 0.05, Ce 0.049 ± 0.012, Co 0.035 ± 0.004,
Cr 0.49 ± 0.07, Cs 0.036 ± 0.005, Dy 0.0072 ± 0.0018, Er 0.0040 ± 0.0011, Fe
100 ± 10, Gd 0.0065 ± 0.0018, Hg 0.031 ± 0.004, Ho 0.0013 ± 0.0004, La 0.034 ± 0.007,
Li 0.064 ± 0.009, Mn 1.69 ± 0.15, Mo 0.54 ± 0.13, Nb 0.013 ± 0.004, Nd 0.025 ± 0.006,
Ni 4.1 ± 0.6, Pb 1.3 ± 0.2, Pr 0.0058 ± 0.0015, Rb 14.5 ± 0.8, Sb 0.051 ± 0.006,
Sc 0.013 ± 0.002, Se 0.54 ± 0.03, Sm 0.0055 ± 0.0015, Sn 0.22 ± 0.05, Tb 0.0012
± 0.0004, Th 0.0076 ± 0.0020, Ti 2.8 ± 0.5, Tl 0.0032 ± 0.0009, Tm 0.00064 ± 0.00017,
U 0.0025 ± 0.0004, Y 0.036 ± 0.010, Yb 0.0037 ± 0.0012, Zn 281 ± 32, and Zr
0.16 ± 0.04. The upper limit of mean mass fraction of As, Eu, Ga, Hf, Ir, Lu, Pd, Pt, Re, and Ta were: As ≤ 0.069, Eu ≤ 0.0012, Ga ≤ 0.071, Hf ≤ 0.049,
Ir ≤ 0.00054, Lu ≤ 0.00063, Pd ≤ 0.014, Pt ≤ 0.0029,
Re ≤ 0.0048, and Ta ≤ 0.010. This work revealed that
there is a significant tendency for the mass fractions of Cd, Se and Zn in the
prostate tissue of healthy individuals to increase with age from the
time of birth up to 30 years. It was also shown that high levels of Al, Au, B,
Br, Cr, Ga, Li, and Ni mass fraction in prostate tissue do not indicate a
direct involvement of these elements in the reproductive function of prostate.