Abstract
Summary
Testosterone produced epithelial hyperplasia in mouse prostate explants in organ culture. Simultaneous treatment of ex-plants with testosterone and 13-cis-retinoic acid inhibited the induction of hyperplasia. When explants were first made hyperplastic by treatment with testosterone for 8 days and followed by simultaneous treatment with testosterone and a retinoid for an additional 96 hr, the following retinoids reversed the hy-perplasia: 13-cis-retinoic acid, the 1-methox-yethylcyclopentenyl analog of retinoic acid, the trimethylmethoxyphenyl analog of retinoic acid, the trimethylphenyl analog of retinoic acid ethylamide, and the trimethylmethoxyphenyl analog of retinoic acid ethyl ester. The data indicate that these retinoids prevent androgen-induced hyperplasia in prostatic tissue in this system by a direct influence on the tissue.
Since estrone or 17β-estradiol had no effect on testosterone-induced hyperplasia in the prostate explants, it is concluded that these estrogens may act by way of an indirect mechanism (pituitary-tesis axis) in preventing androgen-induced hyperplasia of the prostate.
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