Pharmacological characteristics of smooth muscle in benign prostatic hyperplasia and normal prostatic tissue.

Strips of prostatic hyperplastic adenoma and normal prostate were studied by observing the mechanical response to application of certain drugs. The sensitivity of BPH tissue to potassium chloride, phenylephrine and prostaglandins was about double that of normal prostate. The small hyperplastic adenoma showed a higher sensitivity to phenylephrine than the large. However, sensitivity to phenylephrine was almost the same among the various histological types of BPH.