Serenoa repens and Pygeum Africanum in the treatment of BPH

IntroductIon /AIm: Serenoa repens (SR) and Pygeum Afri- canun (PA) exhibit marked anti-inflammatory, anti-androgenic and anti-proliferative effects. For this reason, they have been subject of research as potential treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The aim of this study is to present current knowledge on the topic.
methods: A non-systematic search was performed in electron- ic libraries for clinical trials, experimental studies and systematic reviews on the topic using the terms: “prostate”, “benign pros- tatic hypertrophy”, “lower urinary tract symptoms” combined with the key words: “phytotherapy”, “Saw palmetto”, “Serenoa repens”, “Serenoa serrulata”, “Pygeum Africanum”, “Prunus africana” in various combinations.
results: A sufficient number of studies of the efficacy of SR for the treatment of LUTS and BPH exists. Most of them examine the role of saw palmetto as add-on to other agents and less as monotherapy. Few similar studies for PA have been published up to date. Αlmost all examine its role as monotherapy. According to our research, there is no clear evidence of clinical superiority of phytotherapy over conventional treatment however a potent synergistic effect was shown. SR seems to be more efficient than PA though non produce some of the therapeutic effects of PA. conclusIons: Combination of SR and PA with other medications can offer significant improvements of urinary status while having a favourable safety profile and for this reason may be considered a viable therapy for treating LUTS in certain groups of patients.