الفهرس 
1- INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most common malignancy diagnosed in men and the sixth leading cause of death. Prostate cancer patients after being diagnosed; need surgical removal of the tumor with adjuvant chemotherapy. There is an obvious need for alternative approaches that would reduce the cost and serious side effects of chemotherapy. Herbal medicines are becoming a popular option in the treatment of prostate related diseases. Avocado seed extracts have potential natural chemo-preventive properties. So, the main objective in our work was to study the protective and therapeutic role of avocado seeds aqueous extract on the prostate cancer induced in wistar albino rats.
Material and Methods:
Ninety (90) adult male wistar albino rats were used in this study and were divided into the following groups:
group I (Control group): Consisted of 20 rats and will be subdivided into 4 subgroups IA (received no treatment), subgroup IB (received distilled water orally (2ml/kg/d) for 21 days). subgroup IC (were injected by corn oil subcutaneously (1ml/kg/d) for 21 days) and subgroup ID (were injected by a single intra-peritoneal solution contained equal percentage of sesame oil and saline (0.65ml/kg)).
group II (Avocado seeds aqueous extract group): Consisted of 10 rats and received aqueous extract of avocado seeds (500mg/kg/day orally) for ten weeks.
group III (Prostate cancer induced group): Consisted of 20 rats. Induction of prostatic cancer was done by using combined carcinogen and hormone induction method.
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group IV (Protected group): Consisted of 20 rats and will receive aqueous extract of avocado seeds (500 mg/kg/day orally) for ten weeks before induction of prostate cancer.
group V (Treated group): Consisted of 20 rats and after confirmation of induction of prostate cancer, rats received aqueous extract of avocado seeds (500 mg/kg/day orally) for ten weeks.
The rats were weighed, and blood samples were collected for estimation PSA levels, the rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital. The abdominal part was dissected and opened through a mid-ventral abdominal incision. The Prostate tissues were dissected out, collected, and examined to evaluate the organ grossly, then the ventral lobes of the prostate gland of all animals were collected, dissected free of fat, and weighed.
The ventral prostate lobes were fixed with paraformaldehyde for histological and immune-histochemical analysis, the remaining prostate sections was stored at -80∘C for tissue biochemical analysis of IL-8, TNF-𝛼, DHT, CAT and MDA levels, another part was fixed in glutaraldehyde for electron microscopic analysis
For light microscopic examination: Paraffin blocks were prepared, and ventral lobe sections were cut and subjected to HX&E for routine histological examination, special stains (Mallory’s trichome stain for detection of collagen fiber deposition) and immuno-histochemical stains (CK 5/6, TGF-ß1 and Caspase-3).
For Transmission Electron Microscopic examination: ventral prostate tissues were fixed in glutaraldehyde then the sample was immersed in serial dilution of ethanol. Finally, they were embedded in epoxy resin. Semi- and ultra-thin sections were cut on ultra-microtome.
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Semi-thin (1μm) sections were stained with toluidine blue, but ultra-thin sections have been cut and then stained with uranyl acetate as a principal stain and lead citrate as counter stain.
Morphometric studies were done by using image analyzer software for epithelial height (HX&E-stained sections), Mallory’s trichome stain: percentage of positively stained surface area, immune-stains: percentage of (CK5/6, TGF-ß1 and Caspase-3) immuno-positive surface area in all groups.
Results:
General and biochemical results:
Both Control and Avocado seeds extract groups showed a significant weight gaining all over the study, a non-significant increase in the ventral prostate weight and showed also normal PSA, IL-8, TNF-𝛼, DHT, CAT and MDA levels. There were no recorded death rates among these groups.
Prostate cancer induced group showed a highly significant decrease in their final body weight, a significant (p˂0.0001) increase in the ventral prostate w/eight, a significant (p˂0.0001) elevation in PSA, IL-8, TNF-𝛼, DHT and MDA levels, and a significant (p˂0.0001) decrease in CAT level when compared to the control group. Recorded death rate among this group was 20%.
The protected group showed nearly a non-significant difference between their final body weight and their initial one, a significant (p˂0.0001) decrease in the ventral prostate weight, a significant (p˂0.0001) decrease in PSA, IL-8, TNF-𝛼, DHT and MDA levels, and a significant (p˂0.0001) increase in CAT level when compared to the cancer group. There was no recorded death rate among this group.
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The treated group showed a significant (p˂0.0001) decrease in their final body weight, a significant (p˂0.0001) increase in the ventral prostate weight, a significant (p˂0.0001) elevation in PSA, IL-8, TNF-𝛼, DHT and MDA levels, and a significant (p˂0.0001) decrease in CAT level when compared to the control group. Recorded death rate among this group was 30%.
Histological results:
In comparison with the control group, the prostate cancer induced group and the treated group showed irregular growth and distribution of the acini. They were increased in number, crowded and irregular in outline. The acini contained abundant intraluminal secretions. Irregular basement membranes and congested interstitial stroma were present. Nuclear enlargement and prominent nucleoli were also noticed. There was a significant (p˂0.0001) increase in the collagen fibers deposition in between the acini, a significant (p˂0.0001) decrease in the Caspase-3 and CK5/6 immuno-positive surface area, but a significant (p˂0.0001) increase in the TGF-ß1 immuno-positive surface area.
However, the protected group showed an impressive improvement of all previously mentioned parameters. This revealed that avocado seeds aqueous extract may play an important role as a chemo preventive (protecting role), anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic and antioxidant agent, but useless in curing prostate cancer.