Effects of combined ethanol extract of Anthocleista vogelii and Alstonia boonei stem barks on sex hormonal levels of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) induced rats

Combined ethanol extract of A. vogelii and A. boonei stem (CEAA) barks is commonly used to treat prostate disorders whereas its effects on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) has not been scientifically validated. This study investigated the effects of CEAA on prostate weight, prostate index and serum androgenic and estrogenic hormonal levels of BPH induced rats.

The study had 6 groups containing 5 male Wistar albino rats each. Group 1 was the normal control rats without BPH induction while group 2 was the BPH induced rats without any treatment (BPH) control. Groups 3 – 5 were BPH induced rats treated with 5 mg/kg finasteride/day, 200 and 400 mg/kg CEAA/day, respectively. BPH was induced in groups 2 – 5 by the subcutaneous administration of testosterone propionate injection in olive oil for 28 consecutive days.

The BPH control indicated significantly (p <0.05) increases in prostate weight, prostate index, serum testosterone (TT), dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estradiol (E2) concentrations relative to the normal control. Treatment with CEAA caused dose-dependent significant (p <0.05) decreases in the prostate weight, prostate index, TT, DHT and E2 similar to finasteride-treated BPH induced rats when compared with BPH control rats. The CEAA had high inhibitory effects on the prostate weight (55.71 -82.86 %) and prostate index (65.33 – 86.52 %) of the BPH induced rats greater than 71.52 % and 81.63 % inhibition of prostate weight and prostate index by finasteride, respectively.

The findings of this study indicated that combined ethanol extract of A. vogelii and A. boonei stem barks has anti-benign prostatic hyperplasia activities as it down-regulated the serum concentrations of TT, DHT and E2 implicated in BPH development and progression