Euodia rutaecarpa fruit attenuates testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats by inhibiting 5α-reductase activity and androgen receptor signaling pathway

In this study, effect of an ethanol extract of Euodia rutaecarpa fruit (EER), known to have various pharmacological effects, on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) was evaluated. To induce BPH in an in vivo animal model, testosterone propionate (TP) was injected to rats. EER was administered orally with TP injection. Finasteride, a 5α-reductase inhibitor, was used as a positive control. After all mice were sacrificed at the end of the experiment, pathological changes in prostate tissues and levels of key biomarkers involved in BPH development were assessed. Oral administration of EER significantly suppressed TP-induced BPH by diminishing prostate weight, lumen size and epithelial thickness. EER also abrogated the expression of prostate-specific antigen, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and 5α-reductase type 2 induced by TP. In addition, serum levels of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and prostate specific antigen were elevated in TP challenged rats but decreased in EER-administered rats. Moreover, the improvement effect of EER on TP-induced BPH was associated with decreased expression of androgen receptor (AR) and its coactivators. The current findings show that EER can protect against BPH by attenuating the activation of 5α-reductase and inhibiting the AR signaling pathway, suggesting that EER has great potential in blocking BPH pathogenesis.

Euodia rutaecarpa fruit; Benign prostatic hyperplasia; Androgen receptor; Dihydrotestosterone; 5α-reductase

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