OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Qianlie Huichun on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in prostate tissues and expound its anti-prostatomegaly action in model rats with prostatic hypertrophy induced by injected testosterone.

METHODSA total of 60 male rats were eventy randomized into six groups. All were gelded except the normal control group. After a week, the gelded rats were injected with testosterone(4 mg/kg/d), meanwhile the first group were fed with a small dosage of Qianlie Huichun(0.4 g/kg/d), the second group with a medium dosage(0.8 g/kg/d), the third group with a large dosage(1.6 g/kg/d), and the fourth group injected with estriol(2.5 mg/kg/d), all for a month. The fifth group were model controls, and the sixth the normal controls, both fed with the same amount of pure water for a month. Then all the six groups of rats were killed and their prostate glands were resected for the examination of the expression rate of VEGF by immunohistochemical method.

RESULTSThe difference of VEGF expression between Qianlie Huichun groups and the model group was significant(P < 0.01), and so was it between the medium and large dosage middle, large amount of Qianlie Huichun groups and the estriol group(P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONQianlie Huichun depressed the VEGF expression of the prostate gland in model rats, and the expression rate decreased with the increased amount of the drug, which shows that Qianlie Huichun has a definite therapeutic effect on prostatic hypertrophy by depressed the vascular growth of the vessel in the prostate gland.

Animals ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Male ; Prostate ; chemistry ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; analysis