408 



PHYSIOLOGY OF GONADS 



Fig. 6.31. Rat coagulating gland, normal male. Electronmiciogiaplis, lefl X 7200; upper and 

 lowei- right X 39,000. Caulfield's modification of Palade's osmic acid fixative. Left, ba.sal por- 

 tions of two epithelial cells; right, details of basal region: bni, basement membrane; ci, 

 dilated cisternae; cm, plasma membrane; cy, cytoplasmic matrix; G, Golgi complex; bn, 

 limiting membrane of endoplasmic reticulum; w, mitochondria; n, nucleus. (From D. 

 Brandes, unpublished.) 



cytoplasmic matrix appears as strands 

 within the cisternae. The Golgi complex 

 is represented by parallel rows of mem- 

 branes, vacuoles, and smaller vesicles. 



Histochemically (Table 6.6), the secre- 

 tion is intensely PAS-positive and the cyto- 

 plasm is slightly reactive (Leblond, 19501. 

 The stroma is strongly alkaline phospha- 

 tase-positive (Bern, 1949a). 



The effects of castration arc not ai)i)arent 

 by light microscopy as early as in the ven- 

 tral prostate and seminal vesicles. At 10 

 days after castration the cells are slightly 

 smaller and the cytoplasm less dense; by 

 20 days, the cells are markedly reduced in 

 size, nuclei smaller, cytoplasm clear, base- 

 ment membrane absent or less well defined 

 (Figs. 6.12 and 6.24). The Golgi apparatus 

 is reduced in amount but not fragmontcnl. 

 It still retains the shape of strands or 

 threads which cap around tlic nucleus at 



90 days of castration but the mass is re- 

 duced (Moore, Price and Gallagher, 1930). 



Brandes and Portela (1960a) state that 

 castration produces gradual and slow col- 

 lapse of cisternae in the endoplasmic reticu- 

 lum, changes in mitochondria, and reduc- 

 tion and loss of RNA-rich particles from 

 tlie membranes. Studies of functional ac- 

 tivity show that the ability to secrete fruc- 

 tose and vesiculase is lost (see Section II). 



Depending on the length of the interval 

 between the operation and administration 

 of the hormone, treatment of castrates with 

 testis extracts (Figs. 6.13 and 6.25) or 

 testosterone prevents or repairs histologic 

 and functional changes. 



Seminal vc.'iicles. The secretory epithe- 

 lium is colunuiar in normal males; nuclei 

 are basal and contain one or two conspicu- 

 ous nucleoli and smaller chromatin masses 

 (Table 6.7). Seci-etion granules, surrounded 



