Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with finasteride: Evidence from a meta-analysis

Tao Jiang¹ , Ying Zhang², Zhilin Hu¹, Bin Jiang¹, Xu Hou¹

¹Department of Urology; ²Department of ENT, Dalian Friendship Hospital, Zhongshan District, Dalian 116001, Liaoning Province, China.

For correspondence:- Tao Jiang Email: taojiangv@sina.com Tel:+864118393526

Accepted: 28 December 2017 Published: 30 April 2018

Citation: Jiang T, Zhang Y, Hu Z, Jiang B, Hou X. Treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia with finasteride: Evidence from a meta-analysis. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(4):723-729 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i4.23

© 2018 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To clarify the usefulness and safety of finasteride in the treatment of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) compared to placebo group or controls.

Methods: In a meta-analysis, PubMed and Web of Science were searched to include relevant studies. The results were combined with a random effect model. Publication bias was evaluated using Egger regression asymmetry test.

Results: Fourteen publications involving 17,364 patients were included in the study. Pooled results indicated that International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) in the finasteride group was lower [weighted mean difference (WMD) = -0.77, 95% CI= -0.97 to -0.57] compared to the placebo group. The usefulness of finasteride was higher in total prostate volume (TPV) [WMD= 0.13, 95%CI= 0.00 to 0.26] but lower in serum DHT [WMD= -1.18, 95%CI= -1.51 to -0.86] when compared to the placebo group. Drug-related adverse event was higher in the finasteride treatment group when compared to placebo group [summary RR= 1.95, 95%CI= 1.31-2.90].

Conclusion: Finasteride could improve the symptom score (IPSS and TPV) and reduce serum DHT. However, the potential adverse events, especially the drug-related adverse events in Finasteride treatment should be attention.

Keywords: Benign prostatic hyperplasia, Finasteride, Meta-analysis