 Proteolytic enzymes are required to mediate inflammatory cell infiltration in tissues, a process highly regulated by the cell surface-specific receptor uPAR a binding partner for the urokinase-type plasminogen activator uPA. Numerous previous clinical investigations have indicated that serum levels of the plasminogen activation system are an effective marker of inflammation in several disease processes including CNS inflammation, asthma, metabolic syndrome and pre-eclampsia. Very little data is available regarding the plasma levels of soluble uPAR in benign prostatic diseases, although one previous report suggested higher average levels of soluble uPAR in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms. Theses authors reported a wide variation of uPAR in BPH patients with some having greatly elevated levels while others had undetectable levels. However, the authors did not have pathological confirmation of their findings and could not quantify the level of inflammation in the prostatic tissue. We hypothesize that the absolute or relative serum levels of the urokinase plasminogen activator system, including uPA, uPAR and PAI-1,2 inhibitors of the uPARuPA complex, are associated with inflammation in prostatic tissue. 