The effect of finasteride and dutasteride on prostat vascularity: an experimental study

Purpose: To investigate the histopathological changes, particularly vascular changes on prostate glands of the rats that were treated with finasteride and dutasteride. Material and method: Either finasteride 80 mg/kg/day (n=10) or dutasteride 16 mg/kg/day (n=10) for 15 days were administered to 20 Wistar Albino rats dailly in study group with orogastric gavage syringe. No drugs were administered to the control group (n=6). At the end of the study, all rats were anesthetically sacrified and their testicles, seminal vesicles and prostates were excised surgically. Prostatic sections were stained with CD31 antibodies immunohistochemically to mark endothelium and were examined under light microscopy. The mean microvessel dansity (MVD), mean proliferative MVD (PMVD), mean vessel area (MVA) and the mean length of vessel circumference (MVCD) were measured in three different areas on X200 magnification by using digital imaging system. Results: The weight of the prostate at the end of the study in control, finasterid and dutasterid group was; 0.47±0.02 gr, 0.28±0.02 gr and 0.19±0.02 gr, respectively (p=0.006). The MVD in control, finasterid and dutasterid group were 5.16, 11.66 and 10.28, respectively (p=0.001). The PMVD in control, finasterid and dutasterid group was 6.33, 15.23 and 15.43, respectively (p=0.001). The MVA and the MVCD were significantly lower in dutasterid group compared to finasteride group (341.71 vs. 814.71 ?m2, p=0.019 and 69.51 vs. 109.34 ?m, p=0.007, respectively). Conclusion: In the dutasteride group there was a statistically significant decrease in the weight of the prostate gland at the end of study compared to the other groups. The MVD was significantly higher in dutasteride and finasteride group compared to control group, but not different between finasteride and dutasteride group.