ABSTRACT
Sargassum horneri (Turner) C. Agardh (S. horneri) is brown algae that grows on the broad ranges in the Western Pacific, spanning from Northern Japan to the Philippines. S. horneri has been used as local food and traditional medicine for thousands of years in East Asia. However, little is known about its effects on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In this study, we investigated the effects of S. horneri extract in testosterone propionate (TP)-induced BPH in vitro and in vivo. Treatment with S. horneri extract significantly decreased the expression of androgen receptor, prostate-specific antigen, and 5α-reductase type 2 in TP-induced BPH in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, S. horneri extract treatment significantly increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, indicating increased cell apoptosis. Therefore, these results collectively show that S. horneri extract can alleviate TP-induced BPH and the possibility of using S. horneri extract as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of BPH.
Acknowledgment
This research was a part of the project titled (20200334), funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Author contributions
YJ Kim and KH Kim contributed equally to this work.
Conception and design: YJ Kim, KH Kim, GL Hong, and JY Jung
S. horneri extraction and analysis: Hyun-Yong Kim, Sung-Mo Kang, and Soon-Sung Lim
Analysis and interpretation: JY Kim, GL Hong, and HJ Lee
Drafting the manuscript for important intellectual content: KH Kim and JY Jung
All authors approved the final version of the manuscript prior to submission.