Triptolide reduces prostate size and androgen level on testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in Sprague Dawley rats

Protective effect of the hydroethanolic extract of camelthorn (Alhagi maurorum) on benign prostatic hyperplasia induced by testosterone in rats

BACKGROUND

One of the Iranian medicinal plants is Alhagi maurorum, which belongs to the Fabaceae family. The plant is used to treat different conditions, such as aphthous ulcers, cardiac pains, hemorrhoids, kidney stones, dysuria, etc. Given that A. maurorum is characterized by its richness in flavonoids and phenolic compounds, and it is used to treat urinary tract disorders, this study aimed to investigate the protective effects of its hydroethanolic extract in a rat model of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODS

After preparing the hydroethanolic extract, phytochemical analysis, including GC-MS, was conducted. Adult male Wistar rats (n:35) were randomly divided into five groups (n:7): A sham surgery was conducted on the first group, while the other four groups underwent castration through the scrotal route. Seven days after the surgery, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was induced in all groups except the first one, using a subcutaneous injection of testosterone propionate at a dosage of 10 mg/kg/day. The treatment duration lasted 28 days, during which the animals received oral treatments as follows: 1. Sham control: normal saline, 2. Positive control (BPH group): normal saline, 3. Comparative control: finasteride at 5 mg/kg/day, 4. T1 group: A. maurorum extract at 200 mg/kg/day, and 5. T2 group: A. maurorum extract at 400 mg/kg/day. At the end of the experiment, following an overnight fast and after administering anesthesia with ketamine and xylazine, blood was collected through cardiac puncture, and sera were harvested for hormone assay. Finally after euthanizing the rats, the ventral prostatic lobes were dissected for biochemical, histopathological, and gene expression analyses.

RESULTS

GC-MS analysis showed the presence of nine components. A. maurorum extract and/or Finasteride led to a significant reduction of the prostate weight and prostatic index, serum, and prostatic levels of testosterone. These compounds led to the downregulation of 5-α reductase and androgen receptor genes expression, boosted total antioxidant capacity, and declined prostatic malondialdehyde levels. Intervention using the extract, comparable to Finasteride, led to BPH-induced histopathological enhancements in the prostate.

CONCLUSION

Treatment using A. maurorum extract resulted in significant protection of the prostate against BPH, which is attributable to its antioxidant and androgen-modulating characteristics.

Inhibitory Effect of Astaxanthin on Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats

This study investigates the inhibitory effect of astaxanthin (AST) on testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in rats. Except for the sham operation, BPH model rats were randomly assigned to five groups: the BPH model control rats, AST-treated BPH model rats (20 mg/kg, 40 mg/kg, and 80 mg/kg), and epristeride (EPR)-treated BPH model rats. After treatment, as compared with the BPH model control rats, the prostate and ventral prostate weights of the AST-treated rats decreased, while there was a marked decline in the 80 mg/kg AST-treated rats. The same effect was also observed in the prostate index and ventral prostate index. The proliferation characteristics of epithelia observed in the BPH model control group were gradually alleviated in the AST-treated rats. As compared with the BPH model control rats, lower epithelial thicknesses of prostates and fewer secretory granules in epithelia were observed in the AST-treated rats. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of prostates increased in all the AST-treated rats with a significant increase in the 40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg AST-treated rats. The testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels of prostates in the AST-treated groups were lower than those in the BPH model control group, and a significant decline was found in the T level of prostates in the 40 g/kg and 80 mg/kg AST-treated rats and the DHT level of prostates in the 40 mg/kg AST-treated rats. These results indicate that AST might have an inhibitory effect on T-induced BPH in rats, possibly due to SOD activity regulation and T and DHT levels.

Prostate cancer: Therapeutic prospect with herbal medicine

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in men worldwide. A geographic variation on the burden of the disease suggested that the environment, genetic makeup, lifestyle, and food habits modulate one's susceptibility to the disease. Although it has been generally thought to be an older age disease, and awareness and timely execution of screening programs have managed to contain the disease in the older population over the last decades, the incidence is still increasing in the population younger than 50. Existing treatment is efficient for PCa that is localized and responsive to androgen. However, the androgen resistant and metastatic PCa are challenging to treat. Conventional radiation and chemotherapies are associated with severe side effects in addition to being exorbitantly expensive. Many isolated phytochemicals and extracts of plants used in traditional medicine are known for their safety and diverse healing properties, including many with varying levels of anti-PCa activities. Many of the phytochemicals discussed here, as shown by many laboratories, inhibit tumor cell growth and proliferation by interfering with the components in the pathways responsible for the enhanced proliferation, metabolism, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis in the prostate cells while upregulating the mechanisms of cell death and cell cycle arrest. Notably, many of these agents simultaneously target multiple cellular pathways. We analyzed the available literature and provided an update on this issue in this review article.

Triptolide inhibits benign prostatic epithelium viability and migration and induces apoptosis via upregulation of microRNA-218

Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) has become a troublesome disease for elder men. Triptolide (TPL) has been reported to be a potential anticancer agent. However, the potential effects of TPL on BPH have not been shown out. BPH-1 cells were treated with different concentrations of TPL and/or transfected with microRNA-218 (miR-218) inhibitor, pc-survivin, sh-survivin, or their corresponding controls (NC). Thereafter, cell viability was determined by CCK-8 assay. Cell migration was accessed by modified two-chamber migration assay. Cell apoptosis was checked by propidium iodide (PI) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated Annexin V staining. In addition, messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels were detected using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot analysis, respectively. BPH-1 cell viability and migration were significantly decreased, while cell apoptosis and expression of miR-218 were statistically enhanced by TPL (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). However, downregulation of miR-218 increased cell viability and migration, while decreased cell apoptosis compared with the negative control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Furthermore, the expression of cell cycle–related proteins and cell apoptosis–related proteins were also led to the opposite results with NC. In addition, we found that miR-218 negatively regulated the expression of survivin (P < 0.01) and suppression of survivin significantly enhanced cell apoptosis (P < 0.01). Moreover, the results demonstrated that TPL could inactivate mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, while inhibition of miR-218 alleviated the effects. TPL inhibits viability and migration of BPH-1 cells and induces cell apoptosis and also inactivates mTOR signal pathway via upregulation of miR-218. This study provides evidence for the further studies representing triptolide as a potential agent in the treatment of human BPH.