A histology blog (with a twist) 🔬

🦖 Prehistoric Prostate 🦕

Can an accessory sex gland ever resemble a T-rex?

You bet Jurassican!

i♡histo

An incidental finding in a prostate biopsy. The mouth of this adorable T-rex is lined by the transitional epithelium. This epithelium is observed along much of the urinary system, including the portion of the urethra that passes through the prostate gland in males (the prostatic urethra).

The prostate gland itself is composed of secretory acini that release prostatic fluid (a protein and sugar rich secretion that helps nourish spermatozoa) into a duct system within the prostate gland. You can see evidence of this duct system (cuboidal epithelium lined eye) and the prostatic secretions (eyeball) in this image.

The space between the ducts and secretory cells is filled with connective tissue and smooth muscle.

The smooth muscle is important because it contracts during ejaculation to push the prostatic fluid out of the prostatic duct system and into the prostatic urethra where it mixes with spermatozoa from the testis that has already been mixed with seminal fluid from the seminal vesicles. The end result is a mixture of prostatic fluid, seminal fluid and spermatozoa traveling down the urethra. A mixture that comprises the major components commonly known as semen.

The connective tissue component is important clinically because as men grow older this tissue can undergo hyperplasia (excessive growth). This growth can constrict surrounding ducts which, because the urethra passes through the prostate, can also be constricted. The urethra, in addition to conveying semen during ejaculation, also carries urine during micturation/urination. This explains some of the symptoms associated with the common disorder, benign prostatic hyperplasia when urination becomes problematic for elderly men.

📷 by Dr. Bahadur Abbasov via Facebook