Epigenetic Regulation of Immune Dysfunction in Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
Praveen Thumbikat, Goutham Pattabiraman, Farzaneh Sharifzad, Yongyong Yang, Zhiqiang Liu, Catherine V Osborn, Stephen F Murphy, Qi Cao, Anthony J Schaeffer · 2026
Read Epigenetic Regulation of Immune Dysfunction in Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome by Praveen Thumbikat, Goutham Pattabiraman, Farzaneh Sharifzad, Yongyong Yang, Zhiqiang Liu, Catherine V Osborn, Stephen F Murphy, Qi Cao, Anthony J Schaeffer (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13270079.txt.
Description
Praveen Thumbikat and co-authors trace chronic prostate pain to epigenetic marks that muffle the immune system's own brakes. Chronic prostatitis and pelvic pain syndrome is common and disabling, with no clear cause. Their 2026 study examines immune cells from patients' urine and blood, profiling both cell behavior and DNA methylation, the chemical tags that silence genes.
Patient samples showed more activated helper T cell signals and altered methylation at several immune control genes, including the gene for IL-10, a calming cytokine. Patient cells secreted too little IL-10 when provoked, and a demethylating drug restored the response. In a mouse model of the disease, giving IL-10 alone failed to ease pelvic pain, but the demethylating drug cut pain sensitivity. The authors propose that the marks, not missing signals, are the fault, and that erasing them is a plausible therapy.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Praveen Thumbikat, Goutham Pattabiraman, Farzaneh Sharifzad, Yongyong Yang, Zhiqiang Liu, Catherine V Osborn, Stephen F Murphy, Qi Cao, Anthony J Schaeffer |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 33 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |