Effects of phenylephrine on proliferation and apoptosis of in vitro cultured human prostatic smooth muscle cells

Objective To explore the effects of phenylephrine on the proliferation and apoptosis of prostatic smooth muscle cells (SMC). Methods Human prostatic SMC were primarily cultured and propagated in MCDB-131 medium, then the cells of the 3rd -5th generation were divided into different groups randomly:control group, phenylephrine groups (sub-divided into 0.1-100 μmol/L groups), phen-tolamine (α1-adrenoceptor antagonist) group (10 μmol/L) and combination groups (different concentrations of phenylephrine plus 10 μmol/L of phentolamine). The effects on cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by means of MTT cell viability assay and TUNEL assay, respectively. Results The OD values in phenylephrine groups (1-100 μmol/L) were increased dramatically when compared with control group (P 0.05). The effect of proliferation was in a concentration-dependent manner ( r = 0.90, P 0.05).The apoptotic rate in phenylephrine groups (1-100 μmol/L) was decreased significantly when compared with control group (P0.05),also in a concentration-dependent manner (r = -0.893, P 0.001).Conclusion Phenylephrine can induce proliferation and reduce the apoptotic rate of prostatic SMC through the pathway of α1-adrenoceptor, and the effects are in a concentration-dependent manner.