ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effect of extracts of Smilax china L. on inhibition the experimentally induced benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH) , and screen the effective fraction. Methods The BPH model was built on the castrated rats by subcutaneous injection of testosterone propionate. Male rats were randomly divided into eight groups ( n=6 ):sham operation, model control, petroleum ether fraction, acetic ether fraction, n-butyl alcohol fraction, water fraction, macroporous resin fraction ( FMR) , and total extracts group. The rats were treated with testosterone propionate by subcutaneous injection for consecutive 3 weeks. Meanwhile, rats were orally administrated with the six extract fractions of S. china L. After the last administration, serum was separated for the determination of prostatic acid phosphatase ( PACP ) , prostate was weighed and histopathological examination was carried out to evaluate the inhibitory effect of S. china L. against BPH. Results All of the six fractions from S. china L. could inhibit BPH, and the n-butanol fraction, water fraction and FMR showed better inhibitory effect, which significantly decreased the prostatic index by 52. 80%, 50. 93% and 67. 70%, respectively, remarkably reduced serum PACP, and notably improved the prostate gland morphology compared with the model group. Among the three fractions, FMR showed the strongest effect against BPH. Conclusion S. china L. ameliorates the experimentally prostatic hyperplasia, and FMR showes the best effect, which might be the bioactive components against BPH.