INFLUENCE OF A TRYPTOPHAN-RICH DIET ON PROSTATIC GROWTH AND ANDROGEN RECEPTOR EXPRESSION.
INTRODUCTION
Despite the high prevalence of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) in humans, its etiology remains unknown. Recently, we demonstrated that Serotonin (5-HT) inhibits prostatic growth through androgen receptor (AR) modulation. Here, we hypothesized that modulating the plasmatic levels of 5-HT through a tryptophan-rich diet we could inhibit prostatic growth.
METHODS
C57BL6 adult male mice were divided in 2 groups, Group 1: fed with a normal diet and Group 2: fed with, for a 3-month period. After the sacrifice of the mice, the prostate was dissected and weighted. By ELISA, prostatic 5-HT concentration was determined and by Western Blot, AR expression was evaluated in both groups.
RESULTS
We observed that mice fed with a tryptophan-rich diet for 3 months present a significant reduction in the prostatic weight comparatively to mice fed with normal diet (fig1). Intra-prostatic 5-HT concentration was significantly increased in mice fed with a tryptophan-rich diet (fig2). Furthermore, we demonstrated that the expression of AR in prostatic tissue from mice who underwent tryptophan supplementation was inferior to the AR expression in the normal diet group (fig3).
CONCLUSION
Modulating diet through tryptophan enrichment, with the consequent increase in prostatic serotonin, decreases prostate size and down-regulates AR. These results suggests that a tryptophan rich diet could be potential used to prevent or treat BPH.
Funding: ICVS