Milan Zaviačič

Prostate specific antigen and prostate specific acid phosphatase in adenocarcinoma of Skene's paraurethral glands and ducts

An autopsy case of adenocarcinoma of Skenes paraurethral gland co-incident with renal cell carcinoma is described. The adenocarcinoma showed distinct prostate specific antigen and prostate specific acid phosphatase pointing to the equivalence between the male prostate and Skenes paraurethral glands and ducts. Skenes gland are the homologue of the prostate in females and tumours arising from them are immunohistochemically similar to male prostate carcinoma.

Metastasizing Adenocarcinoma of the Female Prostate (Skene's Paraurethral Glands): Histological and Immunohistochemical Prostate Markers Studies and First Ultrastructural Observation

The case of a 46-year-old women with well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the female prostate (Skenes paraurethral glands and ducts) with inguinal metastases is reported. Besides adenocarcinomatous structures, also more solid parts of the tumor and anaplastic regions with dark cells were found on histological examination. Clear cancerous cells were typical for glandular and solid tumor parts. The cancerous cells showed distinct immunohistochemical positivity of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostate (specific) acid phosphatase [P(S)AcP]. These are the first published results of electron microscopic examination of formalin fixed tissue showing the ultrastructure of female prostate carcinoma, comparable to that of the male prostate carcinoma. In the female, similar to the male, the prostate carcinoma probably originates from the secretory (luminal) cells of the female prostatic glands.

Update on the Female Prostate and the Phenomenon of Female Ejaculation

A review of research concerning the female prostate, a specific organ of the female urogenital system, is presented. This research focuses on clinical interest, anatomical structure, and histochemi...

Concentrations of fructose in female ejaculate and urine: A comparative biochemical study

Even now, almost 7 years after publication of the Addiego et al. (1981) effort to differentiate female ejaculate from urine, controversy about the biochemical parameters of the female ejaculate continues. Some consider the female ejacu? late to be a distinct entity (Addiego et al.; Belzer, Whipple & Moger, 1984; Sensabaugh & Kahane, 1982); others claim it is just urine (Alzate, 1985; Goldberg et al., 1983). Recently, Belzer et al. seem to have estabUshed that the activity of tartrate inhibitable acid phosphatase is present in the female ejaculate in a far higher concentration than in urine and, thus, that the female ejaculate is distinct from urine. To further elucidate this issue, one direction to pursue is the comparabiUty of the female ejaculate to that of the male. In the male, fructose is the most voluminous component of the ejaculate, constituting 46%-80% of its total; it is also its most important component with regard to its role in reproduction (Lundquist, 1949; Spring-MiUs, 1980). It is produced almost exclusively in the seminal vesicles. It is metaboUzed by sperm and provides them with a source of energy (Spring-MiUs). The seminal vesicles synthesize citrate, inositol, prostaglandins, choUne esters, ascorbic acid, and some soluble proteins. The role of several of these components is to stabiUze sperm, particularly affecting the resistance of their acrosomal membrane (Spring-MiUs). Comparative examinations of fructose in the female ejaculate and urine pro? vide a further basis for determining the existence of the ejaculate as being distinct from urine. We analyzed the concentration of fructose in the female ejaculate as a function of different modes of stimulation to ejaculation and as a function of the stage of the menstrual cycle. Regarding mode of stimulation (vaginal vs. extravaginal), we wanted to find out whether more fructose is released into the ejaculate with vaginal stimulation than with extravaginal stimulation. This was an indirect test of Bohlens (1982) suggestion that

Weight, Size, Macroanatomy, and Histology of the Normal Prostate in the Adult Human Female: A Minireview

Abstract The female prostate (Skenes paraurethral glands and ducts) is situated in the wall of the female urethra and histologically possesses the same parts as the prostate of the male, ie, glands, ducts, and smooth muscle tissue. The ducts are more numerous than the glands and also exceed the number of the ducts in the male prostate, There is more smooth muscle (musculofibrous tissue) than in the male prostate The prostatic (paraurethral) ducts do not open into the vulva on the sides of the female urethra, but penetrate into the lumen of the urethra along its whole length. It is through the urethra that the female prostate discharges its contents. The mean weight of the prostate of the adult female is 5.2 gm and its size is 3.3 cm (length) × 1.9 cm (width) × 1 cm (height). 1f we the consider the meatal type, the most frequent type of the female prostate, then the weight would vary the range of 2.6 to 5.2 gm and represent roughly 1/10 to 114 of the mean weight (23.7 gm) of the prostate of the adult male. Contemporary research has presented the female prostate as a non-vestigial genitourinary organ with exocrine function (production of female prostatic fluid) and cellular equipment for neuroendocrine activity.Its function is re-flected by its particular structure, including the presence of secretory and basal cells in its prostatic glands, which cor-respond in detail to the secretory and basal cells of the prostate in the adult male, The female prostate can be affected by the same diseases as seen in the postpubertal male prostate, although the female prostate is less frequently affected than the male prostate. (The J Histotechnol 23:61, 2000)

Female urethral explusions evoked by local digital stimulation of the G‐spot: Differences in the response patterns

Female urethral explusions evoked by local digital stimulation of the G‐spot: Differences in the response patterns Milan Zaviačič , Alexandra Zaviačičová , Igor Karol Holomán & Ján Molčan To cite this article: Milan Zaviačič , Alexandra Zaviačičová , Igor Karol Holomán & Ján Molčan (1988) Female urethral explusions evoked by local digital stimulation of the G‐spot: Differences in the response patterns, The Journal of Sex Research, 24:1, 311-318, DOI: 10.1080/00224498809551430 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224498809551430

Immunohistochemical localization of human protein 1 in the female prostate (Skene's gland) and the male prostate

Mouse monoclonal anti-urine protein 1 antibody and the biotin-streptavid in-peroxidase technique were used for the immunohistochemical demonstration of human protein 1 in prostatic tissue of both sexes. In the female prostate (Skenes gland), like the male prostate, high expression of human protein 1 was observed on the luminal surface and in the apical cytoplasm of secretory cells of prostatic glands, as well as on the luminal surface of the epithelium of the large ducts of the female prostate and urethra. Expression was also found in the membranes of secretory and basal cells of the glands, in membranes of the urethral uroepithelium and of the female prostate ducts, in the content of glands and ducts, as well as in vascular endothelium and smooth muscle. Human protein 1 (urine protein 1) expression in the secretory cells of the male and female prostate and its incorporation into the surface of cells lining the lumina of the female urethroprostatic complex is indicative not only of the secretory role of protein 1 but also of its potential protective properties operative in shielding the uroepithelium from the aggressive urinary environment. All genito-urinary tissue, and especially the female prostate, were found to be a potential source of urine protein 1 (human protein 1), refuting the notion held so far that it is exclusively the genito-urinary prostatic tissue of the male that participates in its production. The corresponding immunohistochemical distribution of human protein 1 in the same structures of the male and female prostate provides yet another analogous functional-morphological parameter of prostatic tissue in both sexes and further evidence supporting the non-vestigial concept of the prostate in the female.

Influence of fasting and stimulation on the rat gastric endocrine cells

SummaryThe ultrastructure and certain cytochemical parameters of endocrine cells of the rat gastric mucosa during 168 h of fasting were investigated. To some of the fasting animals peroral food or alcohol was administered before decapitation.The EC (enterochromaffin cells) the ECL (enterochromaffin-like cells), D1 cells, AL (A-like cells) and G cells were identified by means of electron microscopy. Only the EC, ECL, and G cells could be identified by means of light microscopy by an adequate histochemical technique.The ultrastructural picture of the ECL and of the EC cells did not change markedly during the fasting. In the D1 cells there occurred an agglomeration of secretory granules. Some of them disintegrated and disappeared. In the AL cells an agglomeration of granules during the fasting was also observed. Granules engulfed in lysosomes were often found. The participation of lysosomes in the degradation of granules during the fasting was more marked in the AL cells than in the G cells. The participation of lysosomes was questionable in the EC and D1 cells, and in the ECL cells no lysosomes were observed. In contradistinction to the G cells of the non-fasting animals, where more than one half of the gastrin granules were “empty”, the G cells during the fasting were filled with agglomerated dense granules and contained lysosomes with fragments of engulfed secretory granules.Following the administration of food (Larsens diet) 3 h before sacrificing the dissolution of the content of granules with well preserved membranes was observed (emiocytosis did not take place). The administration of food did not lead to changes in the ultrastructural appearance of the EC cells. The peroral administration of alcohol did not lead to any changes in the ultrastructural appearance of the AL and G cells.

The fluid of female urethral expulsions analysed by histochemical electron-microscopic and other methods

The fluid of female urethral expulsions (female ejaculate), obtained by applying the digital stimulation technique (Grafenberg, 1950; Zavia~i~ et al., 1983b) was analysed in 10 women patients of the 2nd Hospital of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. In the majority of the patients, collections of the fluid were repeated on different days of their menstrual cycle. With the aim of determining standard values of exfoliated squamous cells, which are a constant component of the fluid of female urethral expulsions (Zavia~i~ et al., i983a,b), we were the first to study this kind of material by using not only cytological methods (Koss, 1979) but also histochemical methods for the determination of enzymes, mucosubstances and lipids (Pearse, 1972; Lojda et al., 1976). Transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies were carried out to detect differences between the ultrastructure and the spatial configuration of squamous cells during the proliferative and secretory phases of the cycle. On examining the smears by cytological methods, characteristic differences were observed in the configuration and eosinophilia of the cells on different days of the menstrual cycle (Zavia~i~ et al., 1983a,b). Large flat squamous cells of the superficial type exhibited only minimal or no activity of hydrolytic enzymes acid and alkaline phosphatases, non-specific esterase and succinate and ~-glycerophosphate dehydrogenases. Distinct, minimal, activities were seen in intermediary cells, especially during the secretory phase of the cycle. In the cytoplasm of squamous cells, non-polar lipid drops staining with Fat Red 7B (Serva, Heidelberg) were found sporadically. During the proliferative phase of the cycle and during ovulation, SEM and TEM examinations revealed squamous cells occurring mostly isolated or in small clusters arranged in a slate-like pattern with overlapping edges. An elevated knob-like nucleus was seen in their centre. Microridges were observed on the flat surface of the cells. More prominent ridges marked the cell junctions. On the epithelial cells, and also beyond them, clumps of mucosubstances were visualized which covered the cells surfaces to a varying extent (Fig. 1). In samples collected before and during ovulation, marked

Immunohistochemical distribution of rabbit polyclonal antiurinary protein 1 antibody in the female (Skene's gland) and male prostate: new marker for neuroendocrine cells?

Using rabbit polyclonal antiurinary protein 1 antibody to study the female prostate (Skenes gland) and the male prostate, characteristic localizations patterns appeared in single cells and groups of cells. The majority correspond to cells positive for neuroendocrine markers. In the cytoplasm, cells positive for protein 1 were most frequently found in the epithelial lining of the female urethra, in the pars prostatica of the male urethra, and in the ducts of the female and male prostate where the lining consisted of pseudostratified columnar epithelium. Their occurrence rate was far lower among secretory and basal cells of the male and female prostate glands. The cells with protein 1 corresponded to those displaying positivity for chromogranin A, silver staining by the Grimelius and less by the Sevier-Munger method, and by neuron specific enolase. Using the Masson-Hamperl argentaffin method, positive cells were only exceptionally found. The cells positive for protein 1, and particularly chromogranin A, and characterized by Grimelius positivity, contained different amounts of neuroendocrine granules and varied in size and shape. The majority of these cells had contact with the lumen of male and female prostatic ducts (open type of neuroendocrine cells). In some cases of the male and female urethra and of the great paraurethral ducts, a remarkably high number of cells containing protein 1 corresponded to cells only containing neuron-specific enolase but not chromogranin A and other neuroendocrine markers. These cells can be considered stem cells responsible for the renewal of the uroepithelium of the urethra and prostatic ducts. Protein 1 may thus be a further, though presumably not specific marker for the identification of cells of the neuroendocrine system in the prostate of the male and female. This marker could well be used to study uroepithelium maturation. The corresponding immunohistochemical distribution of human protein 1 in neuroendocrine and other cells of the male and the female prostate provides another analogous functional and morphological parameter of prostatic tissue in both sexes and further evidence supporting the non-vestigial concept of the prostate in the female.