Abstract
Purpose
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a urogenital disorder that is common in aging men. Ixeris polycephala (IP) is used in traditional medicine and contains pharmacologically active compounds. We herein evaluated the impact of IP on a testosterone-induced model of BPH in rats.
Methods
To generate the BPH model, daily subcutaneous administration of testosterone was applied for 4 weeks. During this period, the rats were also given a daily oral gavage of IP (150 mg/kg), finasteride (positive control, 10 mg/kg), or vehicle.
Results
Testosterone treatment was associated with a significantly higher prostate-to-body weight ratio, serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) level, and prostatic gene expression of 5α-reductase compared to untreated controls. Notably, IP plus testosterone co-treatment was associated with decreased epithelial thickness, down-regulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cyclin D1, and up-regulation of pro-apoptotic signaling molecules, including caspase-3 and Bax. IP co-treatment also down-regulated inflammatory mediators, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and decreased inflammatory cell infiltration compared to the levels seen in the testosterone-induced BPH.
Conclusion
IP appears to protect rats against the progression of testosterone-induced BPH by inhibiting prostatic proliferation and inflammatory responses, and thus may have potential for clinical use against BPH progression.