Pao Pereira Extract Attenuates Testosterone-Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Rats by inhibiting 5α-Reductase

Abstract

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common diseases in the urinary system of elderly men. Pao extract is an herbal preparation of the bark of the Amazon rainforest tree Pao Pereira (Geissospermum vellosii), which was reported to inhibit prostate cancer cell proliferation. Herein we investigated the therapeutic potential of Pao extract against BPH development in a testosterone-induced BPH rat model. The administration of testosterone induced the prostate enlargement, compared with the sham operated group with vehicle treatment. The BPH/Pao group showed reduced prostate weight comparable with BPH/finasteride group. Notably, Pao treatment did not significantly reduce body weights and sperm number of rats, compared with the control group. Furthermore, Pao extract treatment reduced the proliferative index in prostate glands and testosterone-induced expression levels of AR, as well as androgen-associated proteins such as SRD5A1 and PSA. Moreover, Pao extract and its active component, flavopereirine, induced cytotoxicity on human prostate epithelial RWPE-1 cells in a dose- and time- dependent manner with G2/M arrest. Consistently, Pao extract and flavopereirine suppressed the expression levels of SRD5A1, AR and PSA, respectively. Together, these data demonstrated that Pao extract suppresses testosterone-induced BPH development through inhibiting AR activity and expression, and suggested that Pao extract may be a promising and relative safe agent for BPH.

Zapoteca portoricensis root crude methanol extract and its fractions normalizes aberrations associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats

“…Our results also agree with the findings of Mohamed et al (2016) who recorded positive outcome on experimentallyinduced BPH administered ethanol extract of flaxseed, sesame seed, safflower seed and soybean. In addition and in consonance with our report, Liu et al (2019) Groups 4 and 5 = Induced and treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg of CME, respectively. Groups 6 and 7 = Induced and treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg of MF, respectively.…”

Evaluation of Juniperus communis L. seed extract on benign prostatic hyperplasia induced in male Wistar rats

“…Lee et al used 5 mg/kg finasteride as the standard medicine [41]. Many researches used 10 mg/kg finasteride [42][43][44] and so does the present study, but we found that giving 10 mg/kg finasteride was not sufficient for treating BPH because an increase in the PSA level was observed in this group (Fig. 3).…”

Metabolomic Analysis of Morus Cultivar Root Extracts and Their Ameliorative Effect on Testosterone-Induced Prostate Enlargement in Sprague-Dawley Rats

“…Our results showed that Igsu treatment ameliorates BPH comparable to Fi treatment. In previous reported studies, natural plant products such as Pao pereira, Quisqualis indica, and Poncirus trifoliata were shown to attenuate the symptoms of BPH [34][35][36]. The natural plant extracts significantly reduced AR, 5α-reductase, and DHT level in prostate glands of the testosterone-induced BPH rat model.…”

“…The results of the previous studies are very similar to our study, which may be due to the large amounts of flavonoids, polyphenols, and plant sterols found in natural foods. Phytochemicals in natural plants were recently reported to be effective in BPH [25,[34][35][36][37].…”