Metabolism of estrone sulphate by benign prostatic hyperplasia in vitro

Homogenates of benign prostatic hyperplastic (BPH) tissue and abdominal muscle were incubated with [3H] estrone sulphate in the presence of NADH and NADPH. The metabolites were extracted with chloroform, isolated by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and identified by addition of 14C-labelled standards followed by sequential chromatography and acetylation. Both tissues transformed the substrate into [3H] estrone and [3H] estradiol-17 beta, but BPH tissue by far exceeded the abdominal muscle in this respect. Estriol and other polar metabolites could not be detected. The specific ability of BPH tissue to convert the major peripheral estrogen estrone sulphate into the terminal biologically active estrogen estradiol-17 beta further indicates an etiological role of estrogens in the development of human BPH.