Effect of Nettle Extract and Pumpkin Seed on Prostate Specific Antigen and Urinary Symptoms in Patients Taking Alfa-blocker for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Introduction: We aimed to compare the effect of nettle extract and pumpkin seed on Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and international prostate symptoms score (IPSS) in patients taking alfa-blocker for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Materials and Methods: For this purpose, 90 outpatients were studied in three groups, including men over 40 years of age with benign prostatic enlargement. The first group (Urtidin) contained consumers of nettle extract from Barijessence Company called Urtidin tablets with tamsulosin; the second group took tablets containing pumpkin seed extract called Prosta Barij and tamsulosin; the third group (Control) received only tamsulosin for three months. Patients were not randomly assigned to the groups PSA, IPSS, and related factors were evaluated and analyzed using SPSS software. Results: 89 patients completed the study (30/89 in Urtidin group with a mean age of 62.4±7.39 years, 29/89 in Prosta Barij group with a mean age of 65.9±7.32 years, and 30/89 in the control group with a mean age of 64.7±8.64 years). The results showed that nettle and pumpkin seed extracts affect PSA in patients taking tamsulosin for BPH. Also, after the intervention, IPSS had a significant decrease compared with baseline in both drug treatment groups. There was no significant difference in these three types of treatment. Conclusion: It seems that the desired herbal products did not have a synergistic effect with alpha blockers in the control and treatment of BPH but they can affect the serum PSA level
