In mouse, global PEDF deficiency does not affect viability and fertility [12], but leads to pancreatic and prostatic hyperplasia [12], hepatic steatosis [31] and bone defects similar to human patients with osteogenesis imperfecta type VI [29], indicating that PEDF participates in important physiological events in both humans and animals. This evidence concerns the gene SERPINF1 and benign prostatic hyperplasia.