This technology utilizes the synthetic phenolic antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), commonly used as a food preservative, as an active ingredient. It provides pharmaceutical and health functional food compositions for preventing or treating Leydig cell tumors, Sertoli cell tumors, orchitis, epididymitis, testicular cancer, and hydrocele caused by the hyperplasia of Leydig or Sertoli cells.
Leydig cells in the testes are responsible for testosterone synthesis, while Sertoli cells are responsible for spermatogenesis. A disruption in calcium homeostasis can lead to cellular abnormalities and infertility, yet there has been a lack of therapeutic agents directly targeting the abnormal proliferation of these cells. While BHA has been reported to inhibit steroid synthesis enzymes, its therapeutic efficacy for male reproductive diseases had not been previously confirmed.
This technology claims the mechanism of action by which BHA activates the MAPK signaling pathway and induces endoplasmic reticulum stress in testicular cells to inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis. It targets hyperproliferative diseases in both interstitial Leydig cells and seminiferous tubule Sertoli cells. It also includes methods for inhibiting proliferation and enhancing apoptosis in non-human mammalian testicular cell lines. Applicable as an adjuvant for testicular tumors, a health functional food for managing orchitis and hydrocele, and a model for veterinary testicular disease research, this approach repurposes a food additive with extensive safety data to shorten the development time for new drugs targeting two types of testicular somatic cell diseases.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT for research into the role of sideroxylin extracted from Callistemon viminalis in the prevention and treatment of gynecological cancers.
N/A
