Effect of kolaviron, a biflavanoid complex from Garcinia kola on some biochemical parameters in experimentally induced benign prostatic hyperplasic rats

BACKGROUND

To determine the effect of kolaviron on some biochemical parameters in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) rats.

METHODS

BPH was induced in rats using a mixture of dihydrotestosterone and estradiol valerate (10:1).

RESULTS

The lethal dose of kolaviron was 3050mg/kg body weight. Body weights, relative heart weight (RHW), relative liver weight (RLW), serum levels of prostate specific antigen, prolactin, estradiol, testosterone, testosterone/estradiol ratio, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), urea, creatinine and prostatic levels of total proteins in the normal rats administered finasteride (standard drug) or kolaviron were not different (P>0.05) from normal control whereas most of these parameters were altered in the disease control except RHW, RLW, AST and ALT. Finasteride (5mg/70kg) or kolaviron (100 and 200mg/kg) ameliorated most of these parameters compared with disease control except RHW, RLW, prolactin, AST, ALT, urea and creatinine (for kolaviron at 100mg/kg). The normal rats administered finasteride or kolaviron had decreased prostate weights (P<0.05) compared with the normal control which results were corroborated by histological assay that also showed that treatment with kolaviron (200mg/kg) or finasteride reversed the histoarchitecture of the prostates of the BPH rats.

CONCLUSION

Kolaviron could be useful in the management of BPH.

Immunotherapy of prolactinoma with a T helper 1 activator adjuvant and autoantigens: a case report

OBJECTIVE

To date, efforts to reliably manipulate the immune system to promote tumor regression in the brain have been disappointing. We report a unique experience of successful immunotherapy to treat a pituitary macroprolactinoma.

METHODS

A 31-year-old woman with an established history of pituitary macroprolactinoma who had undergone tumor resection followed by radiation was admitted to our clinic. The diagnosis had been made due to the patient's symptoms, a serum prolactin (PRL) level of 29,600 mIU/l, a brain MRI revealing a 23 x 19 x 18 mm pituitary mass and a positive PRL immunohistochemistry of the mass. Six months following surgery, she reexperienced headache, excessive sweating and a serum PRL concentration of 2,960 mIU/l despite receiving 30 mg/day bromocriptine. Brain MRI revealed a pituitary mass (3 x 6 x 8 mm) compatible with a pituitary adenoma. Twenty micrograms per milliliter of G2 (as a T helper 1 activator adjuvant) was inoculated intradermally once per week for 24 consecutive weeks (each injection contained 10 mug of G2). The autoantigens were inoculated at the same time with G2.

RESULTS

After immunotherapy, serum PRL concentration decreased to 82 mIU/l, the patient's symptoms disappeared, skin thickness increased to normal and bromocriptine dosage was tapered to 20 mg per week. A follow-up brain MRI revealed almost complete disappearance of the tumor. The patient does not complain of any problems at 1-year follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Activation of both nonspecific (natural killer cells) and specific (cytotoxic T lymphocytes) immunity in relation to the T helper 1 cytokine network is a promising strategy for the treatment of tumors of the central nervous system in humans, especially pituitary macroprolactinomas.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the determination of bovine prolactin in plasma

Highly purified pituitary bovine prolactin (bPRL) has been used in a sensitive non-competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of prolactin (PRL) concentrations in plasma. In this assay affinity purified polyclonal antibodies were immobilized to the solid phase in order to capture the antigen, and were also used biotinylated as the detector antibody. The method was found to be reproducible (3% variability between calibration curves) and has been optimized for measuring bPRL concentration in plasma samples, giving an intra-assay coefficient of variation of about 5% and an interassay coefficient of variation of about 9%. The sensitivity of the assay was found to be as low as 0.1 ng/ml of bPRL.