4. Steroid pathophysiology of BPH. Correlative morphological and biochemical investigations on the stromal tissue of the human prostate.

Light and electron microscopic measurements show that tissue overgrowth in human benign prostatic hyperplasia is mostly due to an increase in stromal tissue. There is evidence that interaction between stromal and epithelial cells play a critical role in the regulation of the coordinated growth of the prostatic gland. Stromal response to hormones is virtually not completely understood, however at present there are strong indications that it is the androgens above all which control the function of the stromal part of the human prostate. It has been shown that the endogenous concentration of 17 beta-estradiol in the stromal compartment of the guinea pig prostate exceeded that of the blood plasma and prostatic epithelium. In an attempt to shed light on the action of endogeneous androgens and estrogens on the stromal tissue of the human prostate, selective androgen and estrogen antagonists as well as bromocriptine were used to study the stromal reaction pattern in human prostatic hyperplasia.