Seminal microflora in asymptomatic inflammatory (NIH IV category) prostatitis

To prove the need for the quantitative full-microflora semen analysis for determining the role of microorganisms in the etiology of asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis, and to correlate the seminal white blood cell (WBC) counts with interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels. Thirty-seven men with asymptomatic inflammatory (National Institutes of Health [NIH] IV category) prostatitis and 32 controls were investigated by using routine semen analysis, IL-6 levels of seminal plasma, and quantitative microbiological analysis of semen. The IL-6 concentration in seminal plasma was significantly higher in NIH IV category prostatitis patients than in the controls, and was in good correlation with the WBC count in semen (r=0.74, p