Clinical effectiveness and tolerability of phytotherapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia - A systematic review of systematic reviews

ABSTRACT

Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is defined as a progressive nonmalignant enlargement of smooth muscle and epithelial cells in the prostate. A lot of studies have been published on the efficacy and safety of phytotherapeutic agents against BPH, making it a daunting task to review comprehensively. Aim and Objectives: The present article aimed to review the existing systematic reviews of primary studies on the subject. Google Scholar and PubMed databases were used in searching the articles. Materials and Methods: After permission from the departmental ethics committee, the quality of the retrieved articles was assessed using a revised assessment of multiple systematic reviews scale. Results: Sixteen reviews were included, with the majority (11 out of 16) focusing on Serenoa repens extracts. Such evidence for other phytotherapeutic agents studied is either limited, conflicting, or lacking. Issues about the primary studies included in the reviews were discussed and some recommendations presented. Conclusion: The reviews that focused on the most widely studied hexanic extract of S. repens, Permixon, were consistent in their conclusions that the extract is beneficial in improving the symptoms of BPH.