Assessment of the anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory pollen extract Cernitin™ in prostatic cells and isolated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Abstract: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and chronic prostatitis (CP) are common diseases in aging men. Though medications are available to alleviate these conditions, problems of possible side-effects of first-line synthetic drugs for prostatic conditions have allowed patients to switch to a safer plant-based medication. CernitinTM, a pollen extract, is used to alleviate these conditions. A recent in vitro study showed that CernitinTM inhibits cell proliferation and induce a regulatory effect on inflammatory parameters. To validate those results, the inter-batch variability of CernitinTM was assessed using the active ingredients CernitinTM T60 and CernitinTM GBX on the human prostatic cell lines BPH‐1 and WPMY‐ 1 and on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs) in vitro. Cell proliferation assay was performed in prostatic cell lines, while inflammatory parameters were analyzed in hPBMCs. Results revealed that both CernitinTM active ingredients, regardless of batch production, significantly inhibited the proliferation of both prostatic cell lines after 48 and 72 hours, respectively (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). Among the batches, there were no significant differences observed. Notably, the GBX batches 14164, 14548 and 14160 had a more pronounced effect on cell proliferation right after 48 hours on both cell lines. Whilst, T60 batches 11539 and 14144 had a pronounced effect right after 48 hours on BPH cells. In hPBMC, the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)- 10 and its receptor IL-10 receptor subunit beta (RB), as well as pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 was significantly increased after treatment with the T60 formulation regardless of the batch, but not after treatment with the GBX batch. Moreover, IL-10 receptor subunit alpha (RA) and tumour necrosis factor‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) expression increased after the use of both formulations (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 and chemokine CXCL-10 was significantly decreased using both batches of T60 (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001). Collectively, these results support the claim of the role of CernitinTM as an anti-proliferative agent and as a cytokine regulator.