White matter changes in young and middle-aged males with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: Tract-based spatial statistics analysis

The supraspinal mechanism plays a key role in developing and maintaining chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). However, it is not clear how white matter changes in young and middle-aged males with CP/CPPS. In this cross-sectional study, 23 CP/CPPS patients and 22 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Tract-based spatial statistics was applied to investigate the differences in diffusion tensor imaging metrics, including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusion (MD), radial diffusion (RD) and axial diffusion (AD), between CP/CPPS patients and HCs. The study also examined the association between white matter alterations and clinical variables in patients using correlation analysis. Compared with HCs, patients showed decreased FA, MD, RD and AD in the body and genu of the corpus callosum and right anterior corona radiata. In addition, they showed increased FA along with decreased MD, RD and AD in the left posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC-L), left external capsule and left cerebral peduncle. The FA of PLIC-L was negatively correlated with disease duration (r = −.54, corrected p =.017), while MD and RD were positively correlated (r =.45, corrected p =.042; r =.57, corrected p =.017). These results suggest that CP/CPPS is associated with extensive changes in white matter tracts, which are involved in pain processing. In particular, the FA, MD and RD values in the PLIC-L were correlated with the disease duration, indicating that the long-term course of CP/CPPS may have effects on the white matter microstructure of the pain perception pathways.