ABSTRACT
The growth of the prostate gland depends on several steroid and peptide hormones. The principal hormone influencing prostatic growth and function is testosterone (T). Testosterone is produced by the interstitial (Leydig) cells of the testis in response to luteinizing hormone (LH) secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. Estrogens can both stimulate and inhibit growth of prostatic tissue. Estrogen in the male derives predominantly from peripheral conversion of T and androstenedione through an enzymatic pathway of aromatization. The hormone-receptor complex undergoes “activation” or “transformation”, and is then translocated into the nucleus of the cell. The role of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the etiology of benign nodular hyperplasia (BNH) is generally accepted. It was demonstrated in 1968 by Bruchovsky and Wilson, that DHT was the active androgen that mediated the intracellular action of androgens in prostates of rodents.
