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Research Article

Effects of Lespedeza Cuneata aqueous extract on testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia

ORCID Icon, , ORCID Icon, , , , , & ORCID Icon show all
Pages 89-97 | Received 23 May 2018, Accepted 29 Oct 2018, Published online: 06 Feb 2019
 

Abstract

Context: Lespedeza cuneata G. Don (Fabaceae), has been used as a traditional treatment of various diseases. There is a report L. cuneata effects on hormone replacement therapy for endocrine-related disease. However, studies related to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) have not been investigated.

Objective: The effects of L. cuneata aqueous extract (LCW) on testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia (TPH) were examined.

Materials and methods: Male Wistar rats (10 weeks, 330–350 g) were randomly divided to 6 groups (n = 6): Control group; TPH group (3 mg/kg, s.c, daily); TPH + LCW (25, 50, 100 mg/kg); TPH + Finasteride 10 mg/kg for 6 weeks. At the end of treatment, histological change of prostate, serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) level, mRNA expression of 5α-reductase, inflammatory factors, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) in prostate were examined. Then, LCW was treated with BPH-1, a human BPH cell line, at 25, 50, 100 μg/mL for 24 h and examine mRNA level of androgen receptor (AR) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA). In addition, the content of vicenin-2 was analyzed.

Results: LCW treatment of TPH inhibited serum DHT levels by 54.5, 51.2 and 54.1% and mRNA expression of 5α-reductase were inhibited 54.3, 61.3 and 73.6%, respectively. In addition, mRNA expression of inflammatory factors, PCNA and FGF-2 were decreased in the prostate of rats. Also, LCW attenuated mRNA level of AR and PSA in BPH-1 cell. The content of vicenin-2 in the LCW was analyzed to 0.89 mg/g.

Discussion and conclusions: Based on the results, LCW is a potential pharmacological candidate for the treatment of prostatic hyperplasia.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by KwangDong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd through their R&D support program.