Effect of Pregnenolone Derivatives on the Selective Inhibition of 5α-Reductase 2 Activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-189
Author(s):  
Marisa Cabeza ◽  
Lucero Bautista ◽  
Eugene Bratoeff ◽  
Juan Soriano ◽  
Yvonne Heuze

Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer are androgen-dependent diseases, and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a 5α-reduced metabolite of testosterone (T), has been implicated as a causative factor in the progression of these diseases. The 5α-reductase enzyme (5α-R) converts T to DHT, which is responsible for increasing cell proliferation, and hence inhibition of this enzyme could lead to potential treatments for these afflictions. Objective: This study focused on evaluating the biological activity of three series of pregnenolone derivatives as inhibitors of 5α-R and as antiandrogens on androgen-dependent glands. Method: To determine the biological activity of these compounds, we evaluated the effect of each one on suppressing the activity of both types of isozymes of 5α-R (1 and 2) by 50% (IC50). Using animal studies, we assessed the effect of these derivatives on the weight of the prostate, seminal vesicles, and diameter of the flank organs of castrated hamsters previously dosed with 1 mg/Kg T. Results: In vitro experiments showed that derivatives 1f, 2b, and 3d were very effective inhibitors of the activity of 5α-R2, showing IC50 values of 21.8, 20, and 15 nM, respectively. Derivatives 2b and 3b showed a lower inhibition effect on 5α-R1. : The data also indicated that derivatives 2b, 1f, 3b, and 3d were very active in reducing prostate weight in the hamster model of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Discussion: Pharmacological experiments showed that pregnenolone derivatives possess an antiandrogenic effect because of the inhibition of DHT production in androgen-dependent glands. Conclusion: The pregnenolone derivatives studied suppressed type 2 5α-reductase activity and because of this, the weight and dimension of androgen-dependent organs were decreased.

2018 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Buonocore ◽  
Manuela Verri ◽  
Laura Cattaneo ◽  
Sara Arnica ◽  
Michele Ghitti ◽  
...  

Objectives. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a form of benign tumor that occurs in humans mainly with ageing. It affects more than 50% of over 50 years old males and it is characterized by an increased synthesis of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), due to the 5α-reductase activity. The BPH therapeutic approach mainly uses 5α-reductase inhibitors, such as the active compounds present in the extracts deriving from species Serenoa repens. Many lipidosterolic extracts are available on the market, which are obtained with different solvents, among them ethanol is recognized as non-toxic and has less handling risks than hexane. The purpose of the present experimental study was to investigate in-vitro the potency of an ethanol extract of S. repens comparing it with an n-hexane one. Materials and methods. Two different lipido-sterolic extracts of S. repens have been tested: ethanol extract and n-hexane extract, two batches for each one. The inhibitory action of the extract was evaluated estimating in-vitro the activity of enzyme 5α-reductase type I (5α-RI), which was mainly active under the experimental condition of pH 7.5. DHT amount, synthesized from testosterone (1 μM), was evaluated in a co-culture model of epithelial cells and fibroblasts resulting from prostatic biopsy of a patient with BPH.Results. The analysis of the resulting dose-response curves showed that the entire S. repens extracts inhibited the 5α-RI showing no difference between the two kinds of extract or between the batches. The resulting IC50 values were the following: 8.809 (95% CI = 5.133-15.56) and 9.464 (95% CI = 5.094- 18.27) for ethanol extracts; 11.08 (95% CI = 6.389-19.98) and 12.72 (95% CI = 7.758-21.53) for n-hexane extracts. Conclusions. The potency of ethanol extracts of S. repens was comparable with the one of n-hexane extracts.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 450
Author(s):  
Kensuke Mitsunari ◽  
Yasuyoshi Miyata ◽  
Tomohiro Matsuo ◽  
Yuta Mukae ◽  
Asato Otsubo ◽  
...  

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is arguably the most common benign disease among men. This disease is often associated with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men and significantly decreases the quality of life. Polyphenol consumption reportedly plays an important role in the prevention of many diseases, including BPH. In recent years, in addition to disease prevention, many studies have reported the efficacy and safety of polyphenol treatment against various pathological conditions in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, numerous studies have also revealed the molecular mechanisms of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of polyphenols. We believe that an improved understanding of the detailed pharmacological roles of polyphenol-induced activities at a molecular level is important for the prevention and treatment of BPH. Polyphenols are composed of many members, and their biological roles differ. In this review, we first provide information regarding the pathological roles of oxidative stress and inflammation in BPH. Next, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of polyphenols, including those of flavonoids and non-flavonoids, are discussed. Finally, we talk about the results and limitations of previous clinical trials that have used polyphenols in BPH, with particular focus on their molecular mechanisms of action.


2006 ◽  
Vol 396 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrysoula Panethymitaki ◽  
Paul W. Bowyer ◽  
Helen P. Price ◽  
Robin J. Leatherbarrow ◽  
Katherine A. Brown ◽  
...  

The eukaryotic enzyme NMT (myristoyl-CoA:protein N-myristoyltransferase) has been characterized in a range of species from Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Homo sapiens. NMT is essential for viability in a number of human pathogens, including the fungi Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans, and the parasitic protozoa Leishmania major and Trypanosoma brucei. We have purified the Leishmania and T. brucei NMTs as active recombinant proteins and carried out kinetic analyses with their essential fatty acid donor, myristoyl-CoA and specific peptide substrates. A number of inhibitory compounds that target NMT in fungal species have been tested against the parasite enzymes in vitro and against live parasites in vivo. Two of these compounds inhibit TbNMT with IC50 values of <1 μM and are also active against mammalian parasite stages, with ED50 (the effective dose that allows 50% cell growth) values of 16–66 μM and low toxicity to murine macrophages. These results suggest that targeting NMT could be a valid approach for the development of chemotherapeutic agents against infectious diseases including African sleeping sickness and Nagana.


2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 1303-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guan-Yu Ren ◽  
Chun-Yang Chen ◽  
Wei-Guo Chen ◽  
Ya Huang ◽  
Li-Qiang Qin ◽  
...  

Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), a lignan extracted from flaxseed, has been shown to suppress benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). However, little is known about the mechanistic basis for its anti-BPH activity. The present study showed that enterolactone (ENL), the mammalian metabolite of SDG, shared the similar binding site of G1 on a new type of membranous estrogen receptor, G-protein-coupled estrogen eceptor 1 (GPER), by docking simulations method. ENL and G1 (the specific agonist of GPER) inhibited the proliferation of human prostate stromal cell line WPMY-1 as shown by MTT assay and arrested cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, which was displayed by propidium iodide staining following flow cytometer examination. Silencing GPER by short interfering RNA attenuated the inhibitory effect of ENL on WPMY-1 cells. The therapeutic potential of SDG in the treatment of BPH was confirmed in a testosterone propionate-induced BPH rat model. SDG significantly reduced the enlargement of the rat prostate and the number of papillary projections of prostatic alveolus and thickness of the pseudostratified epithelial and stromal cells when comparing with the model group. Mechanistic studies showed that SDG and ENL increased the expression of GPER both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, ENL-induced cell cycle arrest may be mediated by the activation of GPER/ERK pathway and subsequent upregulation of p53 and p21 and downregulation of cyclin D1. This work, in tandem with previous studies, will enhance our knowledge regarding the mechanism(s) of dietary phytochemicals on BPH prevention and ultimately expand the scope of adopting alternative approaches in BPH treatment.


Author(s):  
Meng Gu ◽  
Chong Liu ◽  
TianYe Yang ◽  
Ming Zhan ◽  
Zhikang Cai ◽  
...  

The role of high-fat diet (HFD) induced gut microbiota alteration and Ghrelin as well as their correlation in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were explored in our study. The gut microbiota was analyzed by 16s rRNA sequencing. Ghrelin levels in serum, along with Ghrelin and Ghrelin receptor in prostate tissue of mice and patients with BPH were measured. The effect of Ghrelin on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and induction of BPH in mice was explored. Our results indicated that BPH mice have the highest ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes induced by HFD, as well as Ghrelin level in serum and prostate tissue was significantly increased compared with control. Elevated Ghrelin content in the serum and prostate tissue of BPH patients was also observed. Ghrelin promotes cell proliferation while inhibiting cell apoptosis of prostate cells. The effect of Ghrelin on enlargement of the prostate was found almost equivalent to that of testosterone propionate (TP) which may be attenuated by Ghrelin receptor antagonist YIL-781. Ghrelin could up-regulate Jak2/pJak2/Stat3/pStat3 expression in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggested that Gut microbiota may associate with Ghrelin which plays an important role in activation of Jak2/Stat3 in BPH development. Gut microbiota and Ghrelin might be pathogenic factors for BPH and could be used as a target for mediation.


1981 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Krieg ◽  
G. Klötzl ◽  
J. Kaufmann ◽  
K. D. Voigt

Abstract. Because of the well known stromal-epithelial interaction of various urogenital organs, it was of interest to compare quantitatively steroid metabolism and binding in epithelium (E) and stroma (S) of the human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Testosterone 5α-reductase activity was determined by thin-layer chromatography and androgen as well as oestrogen binding sites by a charcoal adsorption technique after a steroid incubation period of 18 h at 0°C, using methyltrienolone (R1881) and oestradiol-17β as tritiated ligands and unlabelled R1881 and diethylstilboestrol as the respective competitors. The main results were as follows: (1) using biochemical markers (acid phosphatase, hydroxyproline), an on average 17% contamination of E by S and 6% of S by E was found, (2) the molar optimum of NADPH for the enzyme reaction was nearly identical in E and S, ranging between 1 and 0.1 mm, (3) the apparent Michaelis constant (Km) of 5α-reductase was in both fractions identical, the mean being 0.15 (μm, (4) the maximal rate of 5α-reductase activity (pmol 5α-reduced metabolites · mg protein−1 · 1 h−1) was 161 ± 28 (sem; n = 20), 66 ± 4.6 and 148 ± 6.6 in S, E and whole tissue fraction of BPH, respectively. In two normal prostates the means were: 88, 53 and 73, respectively, (5) the androgen binding sites were evenly distributed between the cytosol of E and S, while measurable oestrogen binding sites were found in 42% of the analyzed S but only in 5% of analyzed E. In conclusion: the 2.4 times higher 5·-reductase activity in S compared to E of the BPH is responsible for the about 2 to 2.5 times higher activity in the whole tissue fraction of BPH if compared with the normal prostate. Furthermore, due to our preliminary binding studies, oestrogens might play an important role in the S fraction of BPH.


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