Morphological features of sulpiride model of benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats

In order to create an experimental model of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), rats aged 16-18 months received sulpiride (40 mg per 1 kg of weight) during a 30-day period. 10 days after the final injection, the relative mass of the dorsolateral lobes of the prostate was twofold higher, the volume of the glandular tissue increased by 25%, and the thickness of the epithelial layer of the prostate increased 1.6-fold (the numbers are provided in comparison with the control level). Prostate hyperplasia has developed not only as a result of a more rapid cell division but also because of intracellular hypertrophy. Prostate epithelial cells of the rats, which underwent the experiment, contained 1.5-fold more cytoplasm than the cells obtained from the control group. The expression level of Ki-67 in the cells of glandular epithelium obtained from mice with sulpiride model of BPH did not differ from control. 1.7-fold increase in the level of caspase-3 expression was observed in prostate tissues 10 days after the end of the sulpiride course, which indicates activation of apoptosis and sreversibility of the experimentally induced pathological condition. Correlation analysis has revealed a direct relationship between the mass of the prostate, the volume of its glandular tissue, thickness of acini within the prostate and the expression of cas-pase-3 in animals from control and experimental groups.