Effects of combined ethanol extract of Funtumia africana and Abutilon mauritianum leaves on prostate biomarkers and serum mineral levels in prostatic hyperplasia induced male rats

Abstract

Introduction: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a prostate disorder in ageing males that negatively affects the quality of life and requires multidimensional approaches to ameliorate its adverse health effects. Objectives: This study evaluated the effects of combined ethanol extract of Funtumia africana and Abutilon mauritianum leaves on the prostate biomarkers, serum mineral levels and prostate histomorphology of BPH induced rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six male Wistar albino rats randomly distributed into 5 groups containing 6 rats each was used for this study. Group 1 served as the normal control rats without BPH induction while groups 2–5 were BPH induced rats that served as BPH control (untreated), finasteride control, and BPH induced treated with 200 and 600 mg/kg/d of the combined ethanol extract of F. africana and A. mauritianum leaves respectively. BPH was induced in the rats by subcutaneous injection of 5 mg/kg/d of testosterone propionate injection and treatment followed 1h after the induction for 28 consecutive days. All the biochemical analyses and prostate histological examinations were carried out using standard methods. Results: BPH induction significantly elevated serum prostatic acid phosphatase activities and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations in the BPH control rats relative to the normal control. The BPH induction caused significant (P<0.05) reductions in the serum levels of calcium and selenium levels and significantly increased the serum inorganic phosphate concentration in the BPH control when compared with the normal control. Treatment with the combined extract significantly (P<0.05) increased the serum zinc, calcium, copper, iron and inorganic phosphate and significantly reduced serum selenium level when compared with the BPH control. The combined extract further significant (P<0.0) reduced the serum prostatic acid phosphatase activities and PSA level relative to the BPH control. The BPH control showed severe prostate histomorphological alterations consistent with BPH which were largely reduced to mild alterations in combined extract-treated BPH induced rats. Conclusion: This study revealed that the combined ethanol extract of F. africana and A. mauritianum leaves positively regulate the serum mineral levels, serum prostatic acid phosphatase activities, PSA levels and improves prostate histomorphology BPH induced rats.