title: Abacopteris penangiana exerts testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia protective effect through regulating inflammatory responses, reducing oxidative stress and anti-proliferative.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Abacopteris penangiana (Hook.) Ching (AP) is a member of parathelypteris glanduligera and used in folk medicine for the treatment of blood circulation and blood stasis, edema and inflammation as recorded in the ″Chinese Materia Medica″.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of total flavanol glycosides (TFA) from AP and its acid hydrolysate (AHT) on testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in rats by measuring the levels of inflammatory responses, oxidative stress and prostate cell proliferation.
  
  
  METHODS
  BPH was induced in rats by subcutaneous injection of testosterone after castration. Seventy rats were divided into seven groups. After oral administration of AHT and TFA (100 or 200mg/kg/d) for 4 weeks, the prostate index (PI), 5a-reductase (5α-R) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) were determined. Then the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) were determined. In addition, the relative inflammatory factors, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and interleukin 17 (IL-17) were measured. Finally, the prostatic expression of nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) and phosphoinositide3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt were determined by immunohistochemistry. The prostatic expression of Bcl-2 was determined by western blot analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that AHT and TFA decreased serum DHT and 5α-R activities compared with model group, as well as the PI and histopathological examination findings. In addition, oral treatment of AHT and TFA can significantly increase the activities of SOD, GPx and CAT while the level of MDA was significantly decreased compared with the model group. Moreover, AHT and TFA remarkably decreased the levels of inflammatory cytokines in prostatic tissue. Further investigation demonstrated that AHT and TFA treatment down-regulated the protein expressions of p-Akt, NF-κB and Bcl-2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that AHT and TFA have anti-BPH properties via anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-proliferative effects. Hence, AP represents a potential herb for the treatment of BPH.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Resource Evaluation of Hubei Province, College of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Resource Evaluation of Hubei Province, College of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Liuliu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, Tongji Medical Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Chaomei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Resource Evaluation of Hubei Province, College of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Chunping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Natural Medicinal Chemistry and Resource Evaluation of Hubei Province, College of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China. Electronic address: jinlan8152@163.com.
authors.forename: Jinlan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013739:Testosterone / Q000633:toxicity; D064028:Tracheophyta / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013739:Testosterone
keywords: Abacopteris penangiana; Apoptosis; Benign prostatic hyperplasia; Inflammatory responses; Oxidative stress