Testosterone Promotes an Anabolic Increase in the Rat Female Prostate (Skene's Paraurethral Gland) Which Acquires a Male Ventral Prostate Phenotype

Abstract

The female prostate (Skene's paraurethral gland) in the rat is morphologically similar to the ventral lobe of male adults and has been described in other rodent species and humans. Previous studies on prostate morphogenesis suggest that female Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) do not develop this gland due to the absence of testosterone during the embryonic and neonatal periods. On the other hand, studies conducted in our laboratory have shown that some females of this species can present an undeveloped but functional prostate. Recent studies on this gland have caused scientific interest because, besides being active in the processes of synthesis and secretion of prostatic material, it is also targeted by both malignant and benign lesions, mainly during senescence. Thus, this work aims to evaluate the structure of female prostate of adult rats (Rattus norvegicus) under normal conditions and under the effect of testosterone treatment and carry out comparative studies on the ventral prostate of young and adult male rats. Morphological and morphometric stereological analyses and immunocytochemical and ultrastructural studies were conducted. The results have shown that the prostate gland of rats exposed to androgen therapy have experienced intense growth, becoming more active in relation to synthesis and secretion. It may be concluded that the prostate in control adult female rats is morphologically very similar to the prostatic ventral lobe of young male rats. Besides, under androgenic action, the female prostate grows considerably and becomes similar to the prostatic ventral lobe in male adults.

Progesterone as a morphological regulatory factor of the male and female gerbil prostate

“…The administration of P4 alone and concomitant with E2, which was employed in this investigation, showed the importance of epithelium-stroma interaction in the prostate gland, as treatment with these hormones improved the AR expression in stromal cells, allowing the recovery of prostate morphology, which was similar to that observed in control animals Cunha 2008). The epithelial hypertrophy observed in the gland of both sexes in the CaPT group resembles those studies in which animals were treated only with T, differentiating itself, however, by the presence of less epithelial dysplasia (Scarano et al 2006;Biancardi et al 2010;Oliveira et al 2011). In addition, in CaPT, the ARs are expressed mainly in the epithelium, in the same pattern as seen in NC animals (Omoto 2008).…”

“…Studies in which testosterone replacement triggers accelerated processes of glandular development and recovery of prostate morphology confirm its relevance for the gland (Biancardi et al 2010). The glandular regression of female prostate and male ventral prostate after castration was partially reversed by P4 administration.…”

“…Although the prostate morphology of the CaPE and CaPT groups presented similar features to the animals treated separately with T and E2 Scarano et al 2008;Biancardi et al 2010), there was a decreased incidence of dysplasia in the former groups. The fact that the T/E2 ratio did not change, but the E2/P4 ratio decreased and was then developed in the prostatic gland, indicates that P4 is a regulator of prostatic homeostasis.…”

“…The treatment time and dosage used were based on the previous work in gerbils and rats, observing the best response period for the hormones administered Biancardi et al 2010;Shinohara et al 2013). The prostates were weighed and processed in accordance with the appropriate methodology for each of the analysis.…”

Female prostate: historical, developmental, and morphological perspectives

“…The sensitivity of this gland to androgens has been reported for a long time (Korenchevsky, ; Mahoney, ; Price, ). However, only posteriorly the presence of the AR was found in both the rodent (Satoh et al, ; Santos et al, ; Biancardi et al, , ) and human (Dietrich et al, ) female prostates. Similar to the male prostate, the AR in the female prostate is located either in the epithelium or in the stroma (Satoh et al, ; Santos et al, ; Biancardi et al, ).…”