ACCESSORY MAMMALIAN REPRODUCTIVE GLANDS 



427 



(1939) noted stratified, sqiuinious epithe- 

 lium in the ducts of the seminal vesicles, 

 and ducts and acini of coagulating glands 

 following estrogen administration. But a 

 slight delay in castration atrophy and a 

 weak stimulating effect of estrogen on semi- 

 nal vesicle epithelium were observed by 

 Overholser and Nelson ( 1935 ) and Lacas- 

 sagne and Raynaud (1937). 



Ovaries transplanted into castrated male 

 rats (Pfeiffer, 1936) induce fibromuscular 

 hyi^ertrophy in host seminal vesicles and 

 coagulating glands; stratified sciuamous 

 cornified epithelium appears also in coagu- 

 lating glands, and hyperplasia and meta- 

 l^lasia are present in lateral prostates. Es- 

 trogenic stimulation of fibromuscular tissue 

 occurs (Price, 1941) in seminal vesicle 

 grafts in normal female hosts but no such 

 effects are evident in ventral prostate 

 grafts. 



Burkhart (1942) injected a single dose 

 of estradiol benzoate into 40-day-castrated 

 rats and observed no effect on the ventral 

 prostate. But in the seminal vesicles, hyper- 

 trophy of epithelial cells occurred by 27 

 liours after treatment and by 55 hours, 

 mitotic activity was evident in the epithe- 

 lium and to some extent in the connective 

 tissue. 



In histochemical studies (Bern and Levy, 

 1952) , metaplastic changes were observed 

 in the seminal vesicle epithelium after es- 

 trogen treatment but no cornification oc- 

 curred; the replacing epithelium was alka- 

 line phosphatase-positive in contrast to the 

 negative reaction in the original epithelium 

 (Table 6.7). Fibromuscular hypertrophy 

 was found but no definite alteration in en- 

 zyme concentrations except an absence of 

 activity in edema of the subepithelial 

 stroma. No metaplastic changes appeared 

 in the coagulating gland epithelium, but 

 the ducts of the dorsal prostate underwent 

 metaplasia; alkaline phosphatase activity 

 of the stroma in both glands was retained 

 as in the castrate. The ventral prostate ejn- 

 thelium was atrophic but still enzyme-ac- 

 tive after 120 days of treatment and the 

 stroma reacted positively. 



The effects of estrogen on the accessory 

 glands of mice are far more marked than 

 in rats. Long continued and strong doses of 

 ■estrogen cause hyperplasia, metaplasia and 



keratinization in the epithelium of mouse 

 coagulating glands (Lacassagne, 1933 ) . The 

 same effects, with fibromuscular hyper- 

 trophy, were described in coagulating glands 

 and prostates by Burrows and Kennaway 

 (1934), Burrows (1935a), and de Jongh 

 (1935) who prevented epithelial metaplasia 

 in prostates by simultaneous treatment with 

 androgen. Burrows (1935b) studied the lo- 

 calization of responses to estrogenic com- 

 pounds and found that in order of time of 

 response, the coagulating gland is first, 

 seminal vesicles next, and finally the pros- 

 tatic lobes. Changes begin in the urethral 

 ends of ducts and jirogress peripherally into 

 the acini. Li the degree of response, the co- 

 agulating glands and seminal vesicles show 

 the most drastic changes with the appear- 

 ance of stratified, squamous, keratinizing 

 epithelium and ultimate loss of acini. The 

 effects on the lobes of the prostate include 

 stratified, cornifying epithelium but the 

 changes are not so i)ronounced. Some hy- 

 pertroj^hy of fibromuscular stroma occurs 

 in all the glands and hyperplasia is marked 

 in the fibromuscular wall of the seminal 

 vesicles. 



Tislowitz (1939) found stimulation of 

 mitotic activity in muscle and connective 

 tissue of seminal vesicles and ventral pros- 

 tate glands of immature castrated mice 

 treated with estrogen. Stratification and 

 cornification appear in the ventral prostate 

 epithelium, with mitoses in the basal cell 

 layers and also in seminal vesicle epithe- 

 lium. Allen (1956) compared the mitogenic 

 activity of a single dose of 16 /xg. of estradiol 

 benzoate on seminal vesicles, coagulating 

 glands, and ventral prostates of 30-day- 

 castrated mice. Significant increases in mi- 

 totic activity occur in seminal vesicles and 

 coagulating glands about 24 hours after 

 treatment; the ventral prostate does not re- 

 spond significantly until 72 hours and gives 

 a low absolute value of mitoses. 



Horning (1947) studied some of the ini- 

 tial changes in prostatic epithelium of in- 

 tact mice receiving estrogen. Slight hyper- 

 trophy of epithelial cells and extensive 

 fragmentation and dispersal of hypertro- 

 phied portions of the Golgi network occur 

 by 8 days in the coagulating gland. At the 

 same period, hypertrophic changes are less 

 pronounced in the ejuthelium of the dorsal 



