Pterorhachis zenkeri (Meliaceae) prevents testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in Wistar rat

Benign prostatic hypertrophy is an androgen-dependent and age-related disease which significantly affects the patient’s life. It is an increase in the size of the prostate gland causing lower urinary tract symptoms including obstructive and irritative disorders as well as complications such as renal failure and sexual disorders. Medical health care remains problematic due to therapeutic limits such as the cost, the accessibility and the side effects. This study was aimed at evaluating the preventive effects of Pterorhachis zenkeri (Meliaceae) on testosterone-induced BPH in rats. Seventy adult male rats were randomly partitioned into 7 groups (n = 10/group) and treated for 2 (5 rats/group) or 4 (5 rats/group) weeks with either distilled water (10 ml/kg, per os) plus soya oil (1 ml/kg, sc), testosterone propionate (10 mg/kg, sc) plus distilled water (10 ml/kg, per os), testosterone propionate (10 mg/kg, sc) plus aqueous (10 mg/kg, per os) or methanol (62 mg/kg, per os) extract of P. zenkeri, testosterone propionate (10 mg/kg, sc) plus bicalutamide (5 mg/kg, per os), testosterone propionate (10 mg/kg, sc) plus bicalutamide (5 mg/kg, per os) plus aqueous (10 mg/kg, per os) or methanol (62 mg/kg, per os) extract of P. zenkeri. At the end of each treatment period, body and ventral prostate weights, prostate size, biochemical (PSA, total proteins, DHT), oxidative stress (NO, SOD, MDA) and histological markers were measured. In testosterone-treated rats, a significant (p<0.05-0.001) increase was recorded in the prostate weight and size, plasmatic PSA, NO and MDA, prostatic DHT and epithelial height and structural damages. A decrease was also noticed in prostatic SOD activity. These detrimental effects of testosterone were remarkably prevented by the extracts from P. zenkeri. This study showed that P. zenkeri possesses anti-androgenic and antioxidant-related activities which could justify its preventive potentials against BPH.
Key words: Benign prostatic hyperplasia, Pterorhachis zenkeri, anti-androgen, antioxidant, rats.