Purpose: To evaluate the concentration of 20S proteasome in the blood plasma of boys with cryptorchidism.
Methods: Patients-50 boys aged 1-4 years (median = 2.4 years) with unilateral cryptorchidism. The control group-50 healthy, age-matched boys (aged 1-4 years, median = 2.1 years), admitted for planned herniotomy. In our study, we used a novel technique Surface PLASMON RESONANCE Imaging.
Results: The median concentration of 20S proteasome in the blood plasma of boys with cryptorchidism was 2.5-fold higher than in boys with inguinal hernia. We noticed statistically significant difference between 20S proteasome levels in boys with cryptorchidism up to 2 years old and above 2 years old.
Conclusions: We believe that the 20S proteasome concentrations in the blood plasma of boys with cryptorchidism reflect the heat-induced apoptosis of germ cells.
Keywords: Boys; Cryptorchidism; Proteasome; SPR imaging.