Early stages of the pathogenesis of rat ventral prostate hyperplasia induced by citral

Typical lesions of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were induced experimentally in the ventral prostate of adolescent (6 week old) male rats by citral, a nonsteroidal compound. Incipient BPH changes were already observed in the acinar glands 10 days after citral administration. A longer period of treatment (1 month) significantly enhanced epithelial hyperplasia, whereas the stromal elements were less reactive. Characteristic BPH lesions involving both prostatic compartments were found after 3 months of treatment. Castration prior to citral administration prevented such BPH changes; however, citral did not prevent the involutive lesions of castration. The mechanism of action of citral is yet unknown, various possibilities concerning the induction of BPH in rats are presented and discussed. The potential advantage of this model, especially as BPH is not necessarily linked to age or exogenous hormones, may offer new alternative pathways for understanding the complexity of BPH pathogenesis in animals and perhaps even in man.