Administration of Seed Extracts Ameliorates Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) in Male Wistar Rats

Introduction: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a major chronic disease affecting men, and the therapeutic agents currently used to manage it have significant side effects. As a result, an alternative medicine with improved therapeutic properties with no side effects is desperately needed. The current investigation aims to study whether the seed extracts (ethanolic-A, hydroalcoholic-B, and aqueous-C) have inhibitory potential on testosterone propionate (TP)-induced BPH in Wistar rats.

Methods: Wistar rats (male) were randomly allocated to one of five groups: control, BPH (TP-3 mg/kg, subcutaneously daily), low dose (TP + seed extracts - 200 mg/kg body weight), high dose (TP + seed extracts - 400 mg/kg body weight), and standard drug (TP + finasteride - 10 mg/kg body weight). At the end of drug treatment, the rats were sacrificed and their serum and prostates were taken for biochemical and histological studies.

Results: seed extracts treatment significantly decreased prostate weight and prostatic index in rats with TP-induced BPH. The seed extracts exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in serum and prostate. In addition, the PSA level in the serum showed a noteworthy decrease in comparison with the BPH group. Histopathological examination also indicated that extracts improved the tissue morphology of the prostate significantly. Out of three extracts tested, ethanolic and hydroalcoholic extract recorded significant effect. Finally, liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/MS-QTOF) analysis showed that the major compounds present in the extracts were tocopherols, fucosterol, linoleic acid, β-amyrin, β-sitosterol, campesterol, cassane furanoditerpene, norcassane furanoditerpene and other diterpenes.

Conclusion: Thus, seed extracts could be a potential source for the formulation of new drug for managing BPH. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first scientific animal investigation into the use of seed extract for the management of BPH.