Transplantation of Human Benign Hyperplastic Prostate Tissue into Nude Mice: First Results of Systemic Therapy

Abstract

Xenografts of human benign hyperplastic prostate tissue (BPH) have been established as a model for the investigation of the etiology of BPH. In this paper it is our aim to answer the question of whether this model is useful for the established therapy of the disease. Additionally we try to evaluate the value of a commonly used plant extract for the therapy of BPH. Is there any influence of the extract from Sabal serrulatum on the BPH tissue in our model? Human BPH tissue from 2 patients was transplanted into athymic nude mice and treated with three different regimens. Animals of group I did not receive any treatment and served as control, in groups II and III the tissue was stimulated by application of silicone tubes containing crystalline 5 Α-dihydro-testosterone and estradiol. Animals of group II additionally were treated orally with the lipophilic extract of S. serrulatum (contained in Prostagutt N®), which is commonly used for the treatment of BPH clinically. Significant inhibition of tissue growth was observed in group III when compared to group II. In group I (control) atrophy of the graft was observed as expected. However, histologically no differences were visible between groups II and III. Our experiment shows a significant growth-inhibiting effect of the plant extract for human BPH tissue in our model (p < 0.05). We conclude that the nude mouse model can be useful for the evaluation of systemic therapy modalities of human BPH and that the plant extract may have a certain value for clinical treatment, which is not only due to subjective criteria.

Models for studying benign prostatic hyperplasia

“…41 Cells derived from human tissue culture and primary surgical specimens were transplanted into athymic rats or mice. Transplants displayed histologically typical BPH acini and stroma.…”

“…Equivocal data have been reported on the effect of dihydrotestosterone on the growth of tissue implants. 38,41,42 Transgenic mice Transgenic mice are used as a model to study the consequence of various transforming events on the prostate gland. Several prostate-speci®c regulatory elements have been evaluated for their ability to direct heterologous gene expression speci®cally and reproducibly to the prostate in transgenic mice.…”

Characteristics of nonneoplastic human prostate tissue transplanted into nude mice

“…Preliminary studies on human BPH tissue xenografts in nude mice have indicated that successful preservation of tissue morphology is possible for up to 8 weeks [8][9][10]. However, this is not long enough for proliferation of prostate tissue in vivo.…”

Herbal Drugs in the Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

“…In an alternative in vivo system (human prostatic tissue transplanted to the nude mouse) the synergistic effects of DHT and estrogen were observed, as well as sabalextract-induced inhibition or slowing of prostatic hyperplasia (34). Other animal experiments confirmed the antiandrogenic effects of lipophilic saw palmetto extracts (26).…”