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Il Farmaco 56 (2001) 483–489
Anti-proliferative effect on a prostatic epithelial cell line
(PZ-HPV-7) by Epilobium angustifolium L.
A. Vitalone, F. Bordi, C. Baldazzi, G. Mazzanti, L. Saso, B. Tita *
Department of Pharmacology of Natural Substances and General Physiology, Uniersity ‘‘La Sapienza’’, P.le Aldo Moro, 5 -00185 Rome, Italy
Received 31 October 2000; accepted 10 January 2001
Abstract
Symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common condition in elderly men and has a significant impact on their
daily lives. The drugs prescribed for treatment include
1
-blockers, 5--reductase inhibitors and plant preparations. Epilobium
angustifolium L. is deemed to be helpful in BPH therapy, although there is less information regarding the mechanism of its
biological activity. The present study evaluated the effect of E. angustifolium extract on human prostatic epithelial cells
(PZ-HPV-7). The exposure to E. angustifolium extract induced a marked inhibition of cell growth in all tested conditions. The
anti-proliferative effect observed in in vitro systems clearly indicates a biologically relevant effect of compounds present in the
extract. Considering these results, the use in traditional medicine of E. angustifolium extract against BPH seems to be justified.
However, further experimental studies are needed to determine the biochemical mechanism of the action and the clinical value of
the E. angustifolium extract. © 2001 E
´
ditions scientifiques et me ´dicales Elsevier SAS
Keywords: Epilobium angustifolium L.; Benign prostatic hyperplasia; Prostatic epithelial cell; Proliferation
1. Introduction
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most im-
portant urologic disorder affecting the ageing male
population, due to excessive cellular proliferation of
both the glandular (epithelial) and the stromal elements
of the prostate. Epidemiological data have given the
prevalence of histological BPH as high as approxi-
mately 8% in the fourth decade of life, rising to approx-
imately 90% in the ninth decade.
The natural history of BPH involves a pathological
phase and a clinical phase. During the early phase,
hyperplastic nodules develop in the transition zone of
the prostate, progressively compress normal prostatic
tissue and cause increase of the prostate size with
predominance of stromal element, narrowing of the
urethra and voiding difficulties. Nevertheless, enlarge-
ment of the prostate alone may be insufficient for
development of the clinical phase and other factors,
such as the compliance of the prostatic capsule and the
presence of prostatitis, have a role in the onset of
clinical BPH.
The clinical symptoms of BPH have a major impact
on the daily life of sufferers. These symptoms can be
classified as being obstructive or irritative in nature.
Obstructive symptoms are associated with the narrow-
ing of prostatic urethra and include hesitancy in initiat-
ing the urinary stream, weak or intermittent stream,
and dribbling of urine. Most of the patients also have
irritative symptoms such as pollakiuria, urgency, noc-
turia and a sensation of incomplete bladder emptying,
linked to the presence of detrusor instability.
Although the aetiology of BPH is not fully known,
BPH is regarded as an endocrine disorder caused by
age-related hormone imbalance [1]. Most etiological
theories of this disorder have focused on the role of
hormones, especially androgens. In particular, accumu-
lation of 5--dihydrotestosterone following shift in pro-
static androgen metabolism has been implicated. In
addition, age-related increase in the estrogen/androgen
ratio may contribute to the maintenance of BPH. Phar-
macological approaches based on the effect of male
hormones on the growth of the prostate are androgen
XXIV Int. Congress of the Latin-Mediterranean Pharmaceutical
Society, Assisi, Italy, 20 – 23 Sept. 2000.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: beatrice.tita@uniroma1.it (B. Tita).
0014-827X/01/$ - see front matter © 2001 E
´
ditions scientifiques et me ´dicales Elsevier SAS
PII:S0014-827X(01)01067-9