Effect of Cholesterol-lowering Agents

The relatively recent clinical observations that hypocholesterolemic drugs have an effect on the benign enlargement of the human prostate gland motivated the investigations into the possible role of cholesterol and its metabolism in the function of the prostate gland. The further possibility that cholesterol or some of its metabolites might also be more directly involved in the etiology of the human diseases benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and prostatic carcinoma was also worthy of additional consideration. Although cholesterol is recognized as an important and indispensible component of every living animal cell, its particular role, if any, and its metabolism in the prostate gland have never been previously considered in great depth. It was these particular considerations that led to the more recent discoveries of alterations in cholesterol metabolism in the aged and diseased human prostate gland.