Kidney And Liver Function Indices Of Prosopis Africana Seed Extract On Testosterone And Estradiol Induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia In Adult Male Rats

Abstract:
Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is present in 50% of men more than 50 years, 95% in men of more than 70 years and in 5-10% of cases, it leads to obstruction of the urethra which makes life unbearable for the patient. We investigated the effect of Nigerian indigenous plant, Prosopis africana (PA) on BPH. BPH was induced in male rats weighing 250-350g through exogenous administration of testosterone and estradiol by subcutaneous injection. A total of 30 rats were divided into five groups. One group was used as a control and the other groups received subcutaneous injections of the hormones for 3 weeks to induce BPH. Groups 1 and 2 were treated with different doses of PA extracts and group 3 received finasteride, all by gavages for forty-five days, while group 4 was left untreated, group 5 served as normal control. After forty-five days of treatment with PA extract, the rats were anaesthetised by short contact with trichloromethane vapour. Blood was collected by cardiac puncture and the sera cautiously centrifuged and used for the determination of different biochemical indices. The level of urea and creatinine were significantly (P<0.05) reduced when compared to the BPH control. No significant differences in serum concentration of AST, ALT, ALP, and GGT were recorded in all treatment groups relative to BPH control. Conclusively, the extract of Prosopis africana seed has nephroprotective effect on kidney and no toxic effect on the liver. It seems that benign prostate hyperplasia do not have any damaging effect on the liver.
Keywords: Urea, creatinine, AST, ALT, ALP, and GGT