Early Start

Ageing is inevitable, and brings certain universal experiences. For almost all men, lower urinary tract dysfunction is part of the package. The symptoms can worsen over time and much research has looked into changes that occur with age. A new study, however, has looked a little further back and found that conditions in the womb may have lasting impacts. Researchers tested the effect of a common environmental contaminant, TCDD, on developing mouse foetus prostates and saw an increase in artemin, a protein involved in nerve cell development. The resulting boost in nerve cell density is linked to prostate enlargement in later life. The study found that TCDD exposure increases sensitivity of prostate muscle cells to stimulation (prostate tissue responding to stimulation shown, with maximal contraction activity highlighted yellow) – important as hyperactivity can lead to the problematic prostate enlargement. It seems the seeds of old age are planted while we’re young.

Today marks the end of Urology Awareness Month

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

Website

• Video from work by Anne E. Turco and colleagues
• Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison,Madison, WI, USA
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, July 2021