Cell turnover in human seminal vesicles and the prostate: an immunohistochemical study

Abstract

The human prostate and seminal vesicles are both androgen-dependent sex accessory organs. Their growth behavior, response to hormone manipulation, susceptibility to benign and malignant processes and sex accessory functions, however, differ greatly. The growth behavior of most tissues correlates well with the cell turnover rate of that tissue. Therefore, we compared the cell turnover of normal human prostate and seminal vesicles.Immunohistochemical expression of MIB-1 (proliferation), bcl-2 and transforming growth factor (TGF b) were examined in 20 different samples taken from histologically normal human prostatic and seminal vesicle tissue. For the quanti®cation of apoptosis, the TUNEL technique was used.The apoptosis rates in normal prostatic tissue (0.73 AE 0.60) were signi®cantly greater (P 0.003) than those seen in seminal vesicles (0.02 AE 0.01). The proliferation rates also differed signi®cantly (P 0.002) between these tissues (prostate: 0.77 AE 0.78; seminal vesicles: 0.02 AE 0.02). Eighty percent of the prostate tissue stained for bcl-2, whereas only 55% of the seminal vesicle tissue showed staining for bcl-2. All seminal vesicles and 75% of the prostate samples stained for TGF b b. For both androgen-dependent tissues, apoptotic rates closely equaled proliferation rates. The cell turnover, however, was much higher in the prostate than in the seminal vesicles. TGF b seems to be more important for the regulation of cell turnover in the seminal vesicles than bcl-2. These differences in the proliferative behavior may explain why disturbances of apoptotic regulation lead to a more extensive net cell gain in prostatic tissue compared to the seminal vesicles. This might help explain the vastly different incidence of benign and malignant tumors in these organs.

Bmal1 Regulates Prostate Growth via Cell-Cycle Modulation

“…Since Bmal1 signaling is associated with the growth of the prostate, it is possible that it may also be involved in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), as disruptions in turnover rates drive organ growth, and the prostate has a much higher turnover rate compared with the seminal vesicles [ 18 ]. BPH is the most common urological disease in men over 50 years of age and affects bladder voiding [ 4 ].…”

The Male Role in Pregnancy Loss and Embryo Implantation Failure

“…Several of the principal organs contribute specifi c immunomodulatory seminal plasma components which will be discussed in more detail below. The epididymis produces soluble HLA-G (Rajagopalan et al 2006 ) and CD52g (Norton et al 2002 ); the seminal vesicles are a principle source of prostaglandins (Kelley 1981 ) and TGF-β ; the prostate also produces TGF-β (Pannek et al 1999 ) along with large amounts of exosomes, subcellular microvesicles enriched in bioactive components including cytokines and small RNAs (Burden et al 2006 ;Vojtech et al 2014 ). Local antibody production in the male genital tract occurs primarily in the penile urethra (Pudney and Anderson 2011 ).…”

Untersuchungen zur unterschiedlichen Karzinominzidenz von Prostata und Samenblasen

“…Dabei lieû sich zeigen, dass Prostata und Samenblasen auf ¾nderungen der Androgenspiegel gleichsinnig und ähnlicher als andere Genitalorgane, wie zum Beispiel Ductus deferens und Nebenhoden, reagierten, obwohl beide ebenso wie die Samenblasen aus den Wolffschen Gängen entstehen [24]. [11].…”