Bee’s venom suppresses benign prostatic hyperplasia induced by testosterone through the regulation of the inflammatory response and apoptosis. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (HPB), a common condition in men of advanced age, is a inflammation of the prostate associated with an unbalance between cellular proliferation and cellular death. Because current pharmacological HPB treatments cause unwanted side effects, the development of alternative medicine that is tolerated well by patients, as well as effective to treat HPB is highly interesting. Bee’s Venom (BV) has been used in traditional medicine to treat diseases such as arthritis, rheumatism, and pain. Even though inflammation has been associated with HPB, and BV has strong anti-inflammatory effects, the effects of BV on HPB are not fully understood. Therefore, this study examined the effectiveness of BV against HPB induced by testosterone on rats. BV reduced the weight of the prostate in comparison with the untreated group. Also, BV suppressed the levels of concentration of dihydrotestoterone in serum, and the levels of the nuclear antigen of cellular proliferation in the histological analysis. Moreover, BV significantly reduced the levels of suppresors of apoptosis Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL, as well as the increase of levels of proapoptotical factors, Bax, and activation caspase-3. These results suggest that BV has suppressed the development of HPB, and has a good potential as treatment for HPB.
