Current evidence for the involvement of sex steroid receptors and sex hormones in benign prostatic hyperplasia

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a pathology that affects 50% of men over 50 years of age and 90% of men develop BPH in their eighth decade of life. In 2018, more than 1 billion men will be affected by this disease worldwide. However, the progression of BPH is highly complex and has been debated and studied for approximately four decades. Recent studies indicate that BPH can originate from the alteration of different hormone synthesis pathways, and that it is also linked to the function of hormone receptors. There is a close relationship between the progression of BPH and sexual hormones, such as progesterone, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and estrogen. The focus of this study was to characterize the interactions of these hormones and investigate the direct or indirect role of each sex hormone receptor in the progression of BPH. Although several studies have described the effects of these hormones on BPH, no conclusions have been drawn regarding their role in disease progression. Here, we present a literature review on the sexual receptors possibly involved in the progression of BPH.