Progesterone and prostate: a history of scientific study and the modern view of the problem

Abstract

From the moment of discovery until recently, scientific and practical interest in progesterone has been focused exclusively on female reproductive endocrinology and obstetrics and gynecology. At the same time, the potential role of progesterone in the male endocrine, reproductive and genitourinary systems from the standpoint of the historically established interpretation of this sex steroid hormone only as a female steroid with predominantly reproductive and antiproliferative effects has remained in the shadow of research for many decades. However, over the past two decades, interesting data has begun to accumulate that progesterone is just as important for men as for women. Moreover, in both sexes progesterone performs not only classical (reproductive) effects, but also has a wide range of so-called non-classical (non-productive) effects, which make it possible to call it a kind of “gray cardinal” of steroidogenesis. In the review article, based on the available literature, general and particular issues of endocrinology of progesterone in the male body are considered. The questions of the physiological role of progesterone in maintaining the hormonal and metabolic status of the prostate gland and the mechanisms of its participation in the pathogenesis of various prostate diseases are covered in more detail.