ABSTRACT. Prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) both are among the most common prostate disorders that occur in older men and share symptoms though they have different pathological and clinical courses. Emerging evidence suggests that trace element imbalances may play a pivotal role in the onset and progression of both conditions. This review synthesizes current knowledge regarding the concentrations and implications of trace elements such as zinc, selenium, copper, cadmium, arsenic, and lead in hair and nail samples from PCa and BPH pa-tients.
Hair and nail specimens serve as valuable non-invasive biomarkers due to their ability to reflect long-term expo-sure and internal accumulation of essential and toxic elements. Imbalance level in these elemental profiles may induce oxidative stress, inflammation, or hormonal disturbances associated with disease development. Several studies reveal lower zinc and selenium and higher levels of cadmium and copper in PCa patients, suggesting a potential diagnostic or prognostic significance. BPH also demonstrates trace element variations but with distinct patterns from PCa. The re-view underscores the potential of trace element profiling using hair and nails for early detection, disease differentiation, therapeutic monitoring and techniques used for detection of trace elements. Further standardized, population-based, and mechanistic studies are warranted to validate these associations and enhance clinical practices.
KEYWORDS: Prostate cancer, benign prostate hyperplasia, trace elements, hair, nails, ICP-MS.
For citation: Hussain M.B., Lapin I.I., Elh Yaou Moussa H., Korobeinikova T.V. Comparative analysis of data on the content of chemical elements in the hair and nails of patients with pca and bph in different countries of the world. Trace elemets in medicine. 2025;26(2):3-13. DOI: 10.19112/2413-6174-2025-26-2-3-19.
Information about the authors:
Muhammad Bakir Hussain – PhD-student of the Center for Bioelementology and Human Ecology of the Scientific and Technological Park of Biomedicine; ORCID: 0009-0007-5425-9180
Ilya I. Lapin – Laboratory Assistant of the Laboratory of Molecular Dietetics of the Center for Bioelementology and Human Ecology of the Scientific and Technological Park of Biomedicine; PhD-student of the Department of Medical Elementology; ORCID: 0009-0005-5176-9770; SPIN: 5281-1047; AuthorID: 1167413
Elh Yaou Moussa Habubakar – PhD-student of the Center for Bioelementology and Human Ecology of the Scientific and Technological Park of Biomedicine
Tatyana V. Korobeinikova – Ph.D. (Tech.), Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Dietetics of the Center for Bioelementology and Human Ecology of the Scientific and Technological Park of Biomedicine; Associate Professor of the Department of Medical Elementology; ORCID: 0000-0002-1373-6354; SPIN: 7764-6486; Author ID: 894665
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no obvious and potential conflicts of interest related to the publication of this article.