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Alterations in the Intraprostatic Hormonal Metabolism by the Pollen Extract Cernilton ®

Sabine Tunn, M. Krieg

Introduction

A number of hypotheses have been implicated in the etiology of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The most important theories are: (1) an alteration of the androgen metabolism in BPH if compared to the normal prostate (NPR) leading to an accumulation of the biologically highly active androgen 5a-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) predominantly in the stroma; (2) a change in the androgen-estrogen ratio in favor of estrogens; (3) and an alteration in the intraprostatic interaction between stroma and epithelium [for an overview see (3)]. Such variable hypotheses do not allow a unified therapeutic concept for BPH. For the medical treatment of BPH a variety of substances are utilized such as GnRH analogues, which reduce peripheral androgen and estrogen concentration (5,8), 5(a-reductase inhibitors, which lower the intraprostatic DHT concentration (14), or aromatase inhibitors, which lower the peripheral estrogen concentration (12).

Besides these substances influencing the hormonal milieu, phytopharmaca are also utilized to treat patients with BPH who do not have indications for surgery. These drugs, such as the pollen extract Cernilton ®, lead to a subjective improvement in the patient's symptoms. The effect is supposedly based on an improvement in the inflammation or congestion of the prostate. To what extent these drugs influence the intraprostatic hormonal milieu is not known. We were interested in the question whether and to what degree phytopharmaca influence the intraprostatic androgen metabolism and may exert their effects by a change in the intraprostatic DHT content. To this end we characterized the main enzymes of the androgen metabolism (5a-reductase, 3a- and 3B-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase) in the epithelium and stroma of the human prostate, and tested the in vitro influence of the phytopharmacon Cernilton ® on these enzymes.

Material and Methods

The activity of DHT-metabolizing enzymes (5(a-reductase, 3a-HSOred, 3ß-HSOR,,d) was detemined in mechanically separated epithelial and stromal fractions from 10 normal and 20 hyperplastic prostate glands. To this end aliquots of the tissue homogenates were incubated with at least 4 different concentrations of the individual substrates (either exclusively in 3H-labelled or 3H-labelled and unlabelled form: testosterone to measure the 5a-reductase in concentrations from 14 to 600 nM, DHT to measure 3a- and 3ß-HSORred in concentrations from 100 to 4860 nM). After addition of a co-factor NADPH-regenerating system (5 mM glucose-6-phosphate, 0.6 U glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) the reaction was started with the co-factor NADPH (5a-reductase: 0.5 mM; 3a- and 3ß-HSORred: 1.5 mM) and the mixture incubated for 15 min at 37degrees C. To determine the effect of the pollen extract, epithelial and stromal fractions of three of the hyperplastic prostates were incubated with various concentrations (49;246;493µg/ml) of the water-soluble wPE) or fat-soluble fPE) fractions of the extract, mixed well and then submitted to the same procedure as described above. After the reaction was stopped by the addition of ether, and following extraction, the steroids were separated by HPLC (reversed phase, stationary phase: Lichrosorb RP 18, mobile phase: acetonitrile: H20 = 50:50). Quantification was performed by measuring the radioactivity in the individual chromatographic fractions (substrate and various metabolites). The enzymatic activity was determined from the distribution of the radioactivity in these fractions. The specific activity of the labelled substrate, the ratio between labelled and unlabelled substrate, the incubation time, the protein concentration, and the blanks were utilized for the calculation. All assays were performed in duplicate.

Study 7, Fig. 1
Fig. 1  Mean potential capacities (Vmax/Km) of 5a-reductase, 3a- and 3ß hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase (3a- and 3ß HSORred) in epithelium and stroma of 10 normal (NPR) and 20 hyperplastic (BPH) prostate glands.

Proteins were measured according to Lowry (6). The kinetic parameters Km and Vmax were calculated from the LineweaverBurk plot using regression analysis (least square method). The Student's t-test was utilized to determine significant differences between the means. P <.05 was considered significant.

Results and Discussion

In the human prostate many androgen-metabolizing enzymes are present (see Fig. 1 in the chapter, ,Hormone Metabolism in the Human Prostate"). The potential capacities of these enzymes vary greatly as our own published (10,11) and unpublished results show. The DHT-forming 5a-reductase and the DHT-removing 3a- and 3ß-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductases (3a- and 3ß-HSORred) have the highest potential capacity and therefore the greatest biological significance. It can therefore be assumed that these three enzymes are mainly responsible in the regulation of the intraprostatic DHT level.

Androgen Metabolism in the Normal and Hyperplastic Human Prostate

The potential capacity of an enzyme is expressed by the ratio Vmax / Km (10). In Fig. 1 the mean potential capacities for 5a-reductase, 3a-HSORred and 3ß-HSORed in epithelium and stroma of normal and hyperplastic prostates are shown. The 5a.-reductase in the epithelium of normal prostate tissue has the highest potential capacity, where it is significantly higher than in the stroma, and also higher than in stroma or epithelium in hyperplastic prostate tissue. In the stroma there are no significant differences between NPR and BPH. The potential capacity of the 3a-HSORred is significantly lower than that of the 5a-reductase, and the capacity of the 3ß-HSORred is again significantly lower than that of the 3a-HSORred. Both DHT- removing enzymes have significantly higher capacities in the epithelium of normal prostate tissue than in the stroma, and than in the epithelium and stroma of BPH tissue. The potential capacity of the 3a-HSORred in NPR stroma is minimally lower, and that of the 3ß-HSORred even significantly lower than in BPH stroma.

Study 7, Fig. 2
Fig. 2  Influence of the water-soluble fraction (wPE) of the pollen extract (left column) and the fat-soluble fraction (fPE) of the pollen extract (right column) on the enzyme activity (v). The activity of 5a-reductase in the epithelium (upper row) and stroma (lower row) is shown as an example. The enzyme activities were measured at different concentrations of the substrate testosterone (14.5-310W) and varying concentrations of wPE and f PE (49 - 493 µ/ ml incubation mixture). All measurements were done in duplicate.

A comparison of the potential capacities of the DHT-forming 5a-reductase and the DHTremoving 3a-HSORred and 3ß-HSORred allows the conclusion that there is no higher accumulation of DHT in BPH as compared to NPR. This conclusion is, however, only valid under the assumption of similar mean testosterone concentrations in men with normal and hyperplastic prostates. These results of the potential capacities therefore do not support the DHT accumulation hypothesis for BPH, but rather support the recently published data on DHT concentrations in normal prostate tissue (13,15) which demonstrated a higher concentration of DHT in normal prostate tissue removed immediately after death than in BPH tissue.

Alteration of the Intraprostatic Androgen Metabolism by the Pollen Extract Cernilton ®

To determine the effect of the pollen extract Cernilton ® on the enzymes of the intraprostatic androgen metabolism, the activities of the DHT-forming 5a-reductase and the DHTmetabolizing 3a-HSORred and 3ß-HSORred were measured in epithelium and stroma of three hyperplastic prostates with varying concentrations of substrates as well as different concentrations of the water-soluble (wPE) and fat-soluble fPE) fraction of the pollen extract. The activity of the 5a-reductase was not affected by wPE in a concentration range from 49 to 493 µg / ml incubation mixture in epithelium or stroma (Fig. 2). The activities of 3a-HSORred and 3ß-HSORred were similarly not affected by this substance within the same concentration range (data not shown). However, fPE demonstrated in epithelium and stroma an inhibitory effect on the 5(a-reductase (Fig. 2). The formation of DHT from testosterone is therefore significantly inhibited by the addition of fPE to the incubation mixture. Additionally, fPE also inhibited the activity of 3(a-HSORred and 3ß-HSOR,,d in epithelium and stroma (data not shown). Therefore the metabolism of DHT to 5(a-androstanediol is also diminished. The fatsoluble extract of another phytopharmacon (Serenoa repens B, Permixon®) was also found to inhibit the activity of 5a-reductase and 3a-HSORred in human foreskin fibroblasts (9). This would indicate that nonspecific acting ingredients of such fat-soluble extracts are responsible for the inhibition of the enzymes.

Study 7, Fig. 3
Fig. 3 Inhibition of the enzyme activity (v). The inhibition of the 3a-HSORred by different concentrations (49-493mg/ml incubation mixture) of the fat-soluble fraction (fPE) of the pollen extract as a function of the concentration of the substrate DHT in epithelium and stroma of a hyperplastic prostate is shown as an example (double logarithmic plot according to Lineweaver-Burk).

To determine the kinetic mechanisms of the inhibitory effect of fPE, the enzyme activities were plotted for the different substrate and inhibitor concentrations in a double-logarithmic plot according to Lineweaver-Burk as shown exemplarily for the 3a-HSORred in epithelium and stroma in Fig. 3. For all enzymes, 5a-reductase, 3a-HSORred and 3ßHSORred, it was found in epithelium and stroma that the presence of fPE in the incubation mixture of the tissue homogenate did not change the Km, but that the Vmax changed corresponding to the concentration. Therefore the fPE acts as a non-competitive inhibitor of these enzymes, or in other words, the ingredients of the fat-soluble fraction do not bind at the active center for testosterone or DHT, but at another location, thereby altering the turnover number.

In Fig. 4 the mean potential capacities (ratio Vmax/Km) for the three enzymes in epithelium and stroma of the three hyperplastic prostates are depicted without (Fig. 4 A) and with (Fig. 4 B) additional fPE (493µ ml incubation mixture). It is easily seen that the potential capacities of the 5a-reductase as well as the 3a- and 3ß-HSORred in epithelium and stroma are drastically reduced, but that the inhibitory effect of the fPE on the three enzymes is different. The mean potential capacity of the 3a-HSORred is more inhibited in both compartments than that of both 5a-reductase and 3ßHSORred.

Study 7, Fig. 4
Fig. 4  Mean potential capacity (Vmax/Km) of 5a-reductase, 3a- and 3ß-HSORred in epithelium and stroma of three hyperplastic prostates without addition of fat-soluble fraction (fPE) of the pollen extract (A) and after addition of 493 µg fPE per ml of incubation mixture (B). All Vmax and Km values determined by Linewaver-Burk plots.

To estimate the expected changes in DHT content after in vitro incubation with fPE, the mean potential capacities of the three enzymes without additional fPE were assumed to be 1.0, and the percent activity after addition of the highest concentration of fPE (493µg/ml incubation mixture) was calculated. The mean percentage activity of 5a-reductase after addition of fPE is shown next to the mean percentage activity of the DHT metabolizing enzymes 3a- and 3ß-HSORred (Fig. 5). It can be seen that the activity of the 3a-HSORred in particular in the stroma, but also in the epithelium is more inhibited than that of the 5a-reductase, while the inhibition of the 3ß-HSORred is similar to that of the 5a-reductase. The different reaction of the enzymes may be explained by the different intracellular localization. The 3a-HSORed is equally distributed between cytosol and cytosolic membranes, while the 3ß-HSORred is mainly membrane-bound (1). The 5a-reductase is exclusively found in the perinuclear and microsomal membranes (2,4,7). Although our studies were conducted in a cell-free milieu, the membrane-bound enzymes are probably surrounded by membrane particles and should be only minimally influenced by fat-soluble extract.

Study 7, Fig. 5
Fig. 5  Mean potential capacity (5a-reductase, 3a-HSORred and 3ß-HSORred) without (left columns) and after addition (right columns) of fat-soluble fraction (fPE) of the pollen extract in epithelium (upper row) and stroma (lower row) of three hyperplastic prostates. The potential capacities without  additional fPE were assumed as 1.0, and the percentage remaining potential capacity after addition of fPE was calculated. The dotted lines indicate the relative potential capacities of the 5a-reductase in epithelium and stroma after addition of fPE.

Since these in vitro studies showed a stronger inhibition of the DHT catabolism compared to the DHT formation by the fatsoluble fraction of the phytopharmacon Cernilton@N, a lowering of the intraprostatic DHT level in tissue homogenates after fPE administration cannot be expected. On the contrary, an accumulation of DHT results, which should be similar to that in the normal prostate, however, at a generally lower activity level. This comparison is only valid under the condition that similar amounts of the fatsoluble extract are incorporated in the epithelial and stromal cells without being metabolized, and that these extracts reach the enzymes 5a-reductase, 3a- and 3ß-HSORred -which are located in different subcellular compartments - in similar concentrations. To make statements about the capacity of the pollen extract to influence androgen metabolism in vivo, further studies of androgen metabolism have to be conducted in prostate glands of patients who have been treated for a defined period of time with the pollen extract.

References

  1. Abalain, 1. H., E. Queniener, J. L. Carre, B. Sinion, Y. Ainel, P. Mangin, H. H. Floch: Metabolism of androgens in human hyperplastic prostate: Evidence for a differential localization of the enzymes involved in the metabolism. J. Steroid Biochem. 34 (1989) 467.
  2. Bruchovsky, N., 1. D. Wilson: The conversion of testosterone to 5(x-androstan-17B-ol-3-one by rat prostate in vivo and in vitro. J. Biol. Chem. 243 (1968) 2012.
  3. Coffey, D. S., S. 1. Berry, L. L. Ewing; An overview of current concepts in the study of benign prostatic hyperplasia. In: Rodgers, C. H., D. S. Coffql, G. Cunha, J. T. Grayhack~, F. Hininan, R. Horton (eds.): Benign prostatic hyperplasia. Vol If. NIH publication No 87-2881. Bethesda 1987 (p. 1).
  4. Frederiksen, D. W, J. D. Wilson: Partial characterization of the nuclear reduced nicotinan-dde adenine dinucleotide phosphate: Delta 4-3 ketosteroid 5a-oxidoreductase of rat prostate. J. Biol. Chem. 246 (1971) 2584.
  5. Gabrilove, J. L., A. C. Levine, A. Kirschenbawn, M. Droller: Effect of long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (leuprohde) therapy on prostatic size and symptoms in 15 men with benign prostatic hypertrophy. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 69 (1989) 629.
  6. Lowry, 0. H., N. 1. Rosebrough, A. L. Farr, R. J. Randall: Protein measurement with Folin phenol reagent. J. Biol. Chem. 193 (1951) 265.
  7. Nozu, K., B. I. Taniaoki: Testosterone metabolism in subcellular fractions of rat peostate. Acta Endocrinol. 73 (1973)585.
  8. Peters, C. A., P. C. Walsh: The effect of nafaretin acetate a luteinizing-hormone-releasing hormone agonist on benign prostatic hyperplasia. New Engl. J. Med. 317 (1987)599.
  9. Sultan, C., A. Terraza, C. Devillier, E. Carilla, M. Briley, C. Loire, B. Desconips: Inhibition of androgen metabolism and binding by a liposterolic extract of ,Serenoa Repens B" in human foreskin fibroblasts. J. Steroid Biochem. 20 (1984) 515.
  10. Twin, S., H. Hodistrate, L Grunwald, S. H. Fhichter, M. Krieg: Effect of aging on kinetic parameters of 5a-reductase in epithelium and stroma of normal and hyperplastic human prostate. J. Clin. Enclocrinol. Metab. 67 (1988) 979.
  11. Tunn, S., R. Hatanann, J. Hey, S. H. FIfichter, M. Krieg: Effect of aging on kinetic parameters of 3a(p)hydroxysteroid oxidoreductases in epithelium and stroma of human normal and hyperplastic prostate. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 71 (1990) 732.
  12. Tunn, U. W, P. Kaivers, H. U. Schweikert: Conservative treatment of human benign prostatic hyperplasia. In: Bruchovsky, N., A. Chapdelain, F Newnann (eds.): Regulation of androgen action. Congressdruck R. Brilckner. Berlin 1985 (p. 87).
  13. Voigt, K. D., W. Bartsch: Intratissular androgens in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic cancer. J. Steroid Biochem. 25 (1986) 749.
  14. Vernieulen, A., V A. Giagulli, P. De Schepper, A. Buntinx, E. Stoner: Hormonal effects of an orally active 4-azasteroid inhibitor of 5a-reductase in humans. Prostate 14 (1989)45.
  15. Walsh, R C., G. M. Hutchins, L. L. Ewing: Tissue content of dihydrotestosterone in human prostatic hyperplasia is not supranormal. J. clin. Invest. 72 (1983) 1772.

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