A herbal formula, comprising Panax ginseng and bee-pollen, inhibits development of testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in male Wistar rats

Abstract

A recent study reported that Panax ginseng (P. ginseng) has a protective effect on the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). KH053 is used as a new herbal prescription consisting of P. ginseng and bee-pollen. The present study aimed to investigate whether the KH053 has inhibition effects on the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) using an animal model with testosterone induced BPH. The experiment was carried out in forty male Wistar 7 week old rats that were divided into four groups (control group, BPH group, positive group, and KH053 group). One group was used as the control and the three groups received subcutaneous injections of testosterone 20 mg/kg for 4 weeks to induce BPH. One of them received KH053 by oral gavage daily at doses of 200 mg/kg concurrently with the testosterone. The positive group received finasteride at a dose of 1 mg/kg with testosterone. After 4 weeks, all rats were sacrificed and analyzed for prostate weight, and growth factors. Results revealed that, compared to rats in the BPH group, KH053 showed that the prostate weight and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels in serum were significantly decreased and the decreases in hyperplasia in prostate were also observed. In addition, immunohistochemistry (IHC) also revealed that the protein expressions of growth factors [transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)] in prostate tissue were decreased in the KH053 group. In conclusion, these results suggest that KH053, comprising P. ginseng and bee-pollen, inhibits the development of BPH in Wistar rat model and might be used as functional food for BPH.

Ethanol extract of Cassia sieberiana leaves ameliorates deviances associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats

“…Subcutaneous injection of testosterone had no significant (p > .05) difference in weight gains in the untreated/treatment groups in comparison to the normal control (Table 2). A similar trend was observed by Park et al (2017) which reported a non-significant elevation in the body weight gain of experimentally induced BPH animals compared to the normal control. This could be attributed to the differences in the initial whole body weights and unknown physiological processes that may have occurred during prostate enlargement and the metabolism of administered substances.…”

Bioactive Constituents of F. esculentum Bee Pollen and Quantitative Analysis of Samples Collected from Seven Areas by HPLC

“…Generic bee pollen composition data were considered sufficient for most purposes, but now the usefulness of bee pollen-specific composition data is increasingly being acknowledged [8,9]. Recent research has also shown that bee pollen possesses therapeutic benefits for improving the cardiovascular system, stimulating body immunity [10], promoting antitumor effects, delaying aging [11], scavenging free radicals, regulating intestinal function [12], and treating prostate disease [13,14,15,16,17].…”

Effects of Panax ginseng on the nerve growth factor expression in testosterone induced benign prostatic hyperplasia

“…Previous study showed that the Panax ginseng CAMAYER ( P. ginseng ) protected development of prostate in the rats (Kim et al, 2014, Kim et al, 2015a, Kim et al, 2015b, Park et al, 2017a, Park et al, 2017b). However, PMC, vlPAG, and MPA regions in the brain have not been investigated.…”