Icariin ameliorates metabolic syndrome-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an immense health issue that causes serious complications in aging males with MetS. Icariin (ICA) is a flavonol glycoside that exerts a plethora of pharmacological effects. The present investigation tested the potential of ICA to ameliorate benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) induced by MetS in rats. Animals were allocated to 5 groups in which the first and second groups were kept on water and regular food pellets. MetS was induced in the third, fourth and fifth groups by keeping the animals on high fructose and salt diets for twelve consecutive weeks. These groups were given vehicle, ICA (25 mg/kg) and ICA (50 mg/kg) respectively. MetS was confirmed by the apparent increase in rats’ weight, accumulation of visceral fat, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. This was accompanied by signs of BPH including increased prostate weight, prostate index and histopathological alterations. Treating the animals with both doses of ICA significantly ameliorated the raise in weight and index of the prostate as well as prostate histopathology. In addition, ICA significantly decreased cyclin D1 expression, up-regulated Bax and down-regulated Bcl2 mRNA expression. ICA prevented lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione (GSH) depletion and catalase (CAT) exhaustion, which further lowered inflammatory markers of the prostate such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Moreover, ICA prevented the decrease in prostate content of phosphorylated 5ʹ-adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (pAMPK). In conclusion, ICA protects against MetS-induced BPH. This is due to its antiproliferative, proapoptotic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities as well as the activation of AMPK.