Current pharmacotherapies for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), an androgen receptor-driven, inflammatory disorder affecting elderly men, include 5␣-reductase (5AR) inhibitors (i.e. dutasteride and finasteride) to block the conversion of testosterone to the more potent androgen receptor ligand dihydrotestosterone. Because dihydrotestosterone is the precursor for estrogen receptor  (ER) ligands, 5AR inhibitors could potentially limit ER activation, which maintains prostate tissue homeostasis. We have uncovered signaling pathways in BPH-derived prostate epithelial cells (BPH-1) that are impacted by 5AR inhibition. The induction of apoptosis and repression of the cell adhesion protein E-cadherin by the 5AR inhibitor dutasteride requires both ER and TGF. Dutasteride also induces cyclooxygenase type 2 (COX-2), which functions in a negative feedback loop in TGF and ER signaling pathways as evidenced by the potentiation of apoptosis induced by dutasteride or finasteride upon pharmacological inhibition or shRNA-mediated ablation of COX-2. Concurrently, COX-2 positively impacts ER action through its effect on the expression of a number of steroidogenic enzymes in the ER ligand metabolic pathway. Therefore, effective combination pharmacotherapies, which have included non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, must take into account biochemical pathways affected by 5AR inhibition and opposing effects of COX-2 on the tissue-protective action of ER.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)3 is a common disorder affecting elderly men. Although 50% of men over the age of 50 will develop histological BPH (1, 2), less than half will go on to develop lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) (3, 4) such as urinary frequency, urgency, and retention (5, 6). Multiple factors including altered steroid hormone signaling and chronic inflammation contribute to the pathogenesis of BPH, ultimately leading to an increase in prostate size through tissue remodeling (4, 7-9).The prostate epithelium is responsive to multiple sex steroids and expresses both androgen receptor (AR) and the  isoform of estrogen receptor (ER) (9, 10). The prostate, which is mainly an androgen-dependent organ, can convert testosterone to not only the potent AR ligand dihydrotestosterone (DHT) but also to ER ligands, the most abundant of which is 5␣-androstane-3,17-diol (3-diol) (11, 12). Although androgens regulate differentiation functions of the prostate and enhance proliferation of prostate cancer cells, these actions are opposed by estrogenic ligands, which limit proliferation and epithelial cell differentiation (12-15).The main pharmacotherapies for treating symptomatic BPH include ␣-adrenergic receptor blockers and 5␣-reductase (5AR) inhibitors, which limit conversion of testosterone to DHT (16,17). ␣-Adrenergic blockers alleviate LUTS, whereas 5AR inhibitors reduce prostate size. Several clinical trials (Medical Therapy of Prostatic Symptoms, Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events, and Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial) have examined ...