N-Butanol and Aqueous Fractions of Red Maca Methanolic Extract Exerts Opposite Effects on Androgen and Oestrogens Receptors (Alpha and Beta) in Rats with Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Abstract

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) affects, worldwide, 50% of 60-year-old men. The Peruvian plant red maca (Lepidium meyenii) inhibits BPH in rodents. This study aimed to determine the effects of methanolic red maca extract and its n-butanol and aqueous fractions on expression of androgen and oestrogen receptors in rats with testosterone enanthate-induced BPH. Thirty-six rats in six groups were studied. Control group received 2 mL of vehicle orally and 0.1 mL of propylene glycol intramuscularly. The second group received vehicle orally and testosterone enanthate (TE) (25 mg/0.1 mL) intramuscularly in days 1 and 7. The other four groups were BPH-induced with TE and received, during 21 days, 3.78 mg/mL of finasteride, 18.3 mg/mL methanol extract of red maca, 2 mg/mL of n-butanol fraction, or 16.3 mg/mL of aqueous fraction from red maca. Treatments with red maca extract and its n-butanol but not aqueous fraction reduced prostate weight similar to finasteride. All maca treated groups restored the expression of ERβ, but only the aqueous fraction increased androgen receptors and ERα. In conclusion, butanol fraction of red maca reduced prostate size in BPH by restoring expression of ERβ without affecting androgen receptors and ERα. This effect was not observed with aqueous fraction of methanolic extract of red maca.

Inflammatory pathway employed by Red Maca to treat induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats

“…Euthanasia was performed using 1 ml of Halatal ® (Montana S.A.) by intraperitoneal injections, according to Fano et al (). After that, the rats were disposed in the cages until cardiac pulse and respiration rhythm stopped.…”

“…Furthermore, the effect of sexual hormones in prostate development should consider the evaluation of its receptors expression and activation, since it has been widely established that androgen receptor (AR) promotes prostate growth and reduces apoptosis (Izumi, Mizokami, Lin, Lai, & Chang, 2013), as like oestrogen receptor-a (ERa), while oestrogen receptor-b (ERb) activation arrests cell cycle and promotes apoptosis (McPherson et al, 2010;Paterni, Granchi, Katzenellenbogen, & Minutolo, 2014), thus maintaining prostate size. According to Fano et al (2017), Red Maca would exert its effects through a differential synthesis and activation of AR, ERa and ERb, restoring the expression of the last two by an oestrogenic effect, without affecting the expression of AR (Fano et al, 2017;Tafuri et al, 2019). In a same way, testosterone has been associated with different effects indicating that a testosterone supplementation, thus increasing its levels, could prevent metabolic syndrome BPH (Vignozzi et al, 2013).…”

“…For these reasons, new strategies to treat BPH with reduced side effects are being explored, especially in the area of phytotherapy, in which plants such as Pygeum africanum, Secale cereal and Seronoa repens have demonstrated beneficial effects (Keehn, Taylor, & Lowe, 2016). Different studies have showed that Red Maca (Lepidium meyenii), a Peruvian plant of the Brassicaceae family, inhibits the development of testosterone enanthate-induced BPH in rats and mice (Fano et al, 2017;Gasco, Villegas, Yucra, Rubio, & Gonzales, 2007;Gonzales, Gasco, Malheiros-Pereira, & Gonzales-Castañeda, 2008); nonetheless, how does maca modulates the inflammatory response in BPH is still not clear. Therefore, the present study aims to determine the possible inflammatory mechanism induced by Red Maca to treat BPH.…”

Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects of Kelong-Capsule on Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats

“…Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an age-related disease characterized by proliferation of the epithelial and stroma cell in the prostate gland [ 1 ]. It is also the most common cause of the lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) [ 2 ]. Men with severely enlarged prostate suffer from obstructive and irritative symptoms including nocturia, irreversible bladder failure, and greater risk of acute urinary retention, which affect the quality of life [ 3 , 4 ].…”