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Introduction: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common non-malignant overgrowth of human prostate in old age that greatly affects patient's quality of life. Finasteride, one of the routinely available regimens for BPH, caused several drawbacks. Recently a natural herbal product, ginseng, had shown a promising influence on various disorders through anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory and other beneficial effects. Aim of the Work:To compare the effect of panax ginseng versus finasteride on BPH. Together with evaluation of the spontaneous improvement of hyperplastic features. Materials and Methods: Fifty five adult albino rats were divided into 2 groups: control and experimental groups. BPH was induced by subcutaneous injection of testosterone (3 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks. Then the animals were subdivided equally into 4 subgroups: BPH was sacrificed at end of 4th week, Recovery was left untreated for another 4 weeks, Finasteride & Ginseng treated subgroups received oral administration of finasteride (5 mg/kg/day) & ginseng (200 mg/kg/day) respectively for another 4 weeks. Serum DHT level and weight of prostate glands were measured. Prostatic sections were stained with toluidine blue, H&E, Masson trichrome and immunohistochemical stain for PCNA and α SMA. Additionally, the sections were subjected to morphometric and statistical analysis. Results: BPH subgroup showed signs of hyperplasia of both epithelial and stromal cells while minimal improvement was demonstrated in the recovery subgroup. Finasteride treated subgroup showed apparent incomplete restoration of normal prostatic histological structure. While nearly normal histological architecture, biochemical & morphometric parameters were recorded in ginseng treated subgroup. Conclusion: Ginseng proved to have a therapeutic effect superior to finasteride through its anti-mitotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. Discontinuation of testosterone administration resulted in inconsiderable regression of BPH.

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his study aimed to examine the effect of dry pomegranate (Punica Granatum) (DPG) intervention on biochemical parameters in mild cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients. Sixty adult males > 45 years suffering from mild CVD were selected from the outpatient clinic of the cardiopulmonary department in El-Fayoum General Hospital in El-Fayoum city. The patients were divided randomly into two equal groups (A&B 30 patients/ group): Group A (Control group); who had received a placebo for 8 weeks. Group B (Study group); supplemented with 50g of dry pomegranates daily for the same period. Mean daily nutrient intake using 24 Hours recall, anthropometric measurements [body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), arm circumference (AC)], blood pressure, and heart rate were assessed. Blood analysis for lipid profiles and malondialdehyde (MDA) and some antioxidants "Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione (GSH), Catalase enzyme (CAT), and ascorbic acid (VIT C)" were determined for both groups before and after treatment. Results showed that in the control group, there were no significant differences in all parameters measurements before and after supplementation. In-group B, there were significant differences in the mean values of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, MDA, SOD, CAT, and VIT C compared to pre-post supplementation values. There were no significant differences in the mean values of AC, WHR, triglyceride, lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol HDL-C, and GSH post-intervention. The study concluded that dry pomegranate could be used for the prevention of lipid peroxidation and to enhance antioxidant status in patients.