Abstract
Prostate cancer (CaP) is one of the leading causes of death in men worldwide. Much attention has been given on its prevention and treatment strategies, including targeting the regulation of 5-alpha-Reductase (5αR) enzyme activity, aimed to limit the progression of CaP by inhibiting the conversion of potent androgen dihydrotestosterone from testosterone that is thought to play a role in pathogenesis of CaP, by using the 5-alpha-Reductase inhibitors (5αRis) such as finasteride and dutasteride. However, 5αRis are reported to exhibit numerous adverse side effects, for instance erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction and loss of libido. This has led to a surge of interest on plant-derived alternatives that might offer favourable side effects and less toxic profiles. Phytochemicals from plants are shown to exhibit numerous medicinal properties in various studies targeting many major illnesses including CaP. Therefore, in this review, we aim to discuss the use of phytochemicals namely phytosterols, polyphenols and fatty acids, found in various plants with proven anti-CaP properties, as an alternative herbal CaP medicines as well as to outline their inhibitory activities on 5αRs isozymes based on their structural similarities with current 5αRis as part of CaP treatment approaches.
Highlights
The authors should clarify the sentence “Testosterone (T), synthesised by the Leydig cells of the testes under the control of hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland, is the most abundant circulating androgen in males, where from it, more potent form dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is synthesised”.2
The results showed Oleic acid (OA) and linoleic acid (LNA) to be more potent against 5αR1 than 5αR2, while lauric acid (LA) was found to be potent against both 5αR1 and 5αR2, whereas, the inhibitory effect of myristic acid (MA) was found only active against type 2 and is a potent inhibitor of 5αR2
Study interests have switched to finding a safer remedy with no/less harmful side effects by means of natural-derived entities found in plants as an alternative to synthetic 5αR inhibitors (5αRis)
Summary
Quercetin exhibits significant arrest of cell cycle, decreases cell viability, inhibits proliferation, and induces cell apoptosis especially in PC-3, LNCaP and DU-145 cell lines, whereas when used in vivo, growth of a CaP cell xenograft tumour was effectively halted at a selective dosage (Yang et al, 2015). Myricetin has been reported to exhibit anti-tumour activity in in vitro (DU-145 and PC-3 cell lines) and in vivo (thymic nude mice) models, by promoting cell apoptosis and inhibition of cell migration and invasion (Ye et al, 2018).
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