Britt Haller, Elena A Takano, James Brock, Stephen B Fox, Noel Woodford, Lisa Devereux, Helen E O'Connell
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: There are varying reports of immunohistochemically detected prostatic marker protein distribution in glands associated with the female urethra that may be related to tissue integrity at the time of fixation.
Aim: In this study we used tissue derived from rapid autopsies of female patients to determine the distribution of glandular structures expressing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostate-specific acid phosphatase (PSAP) along the female urethra and in surrounding tissues, including the anterior vaginal wall (AVW).
Methods: Tissue blocks from 7 donors that contained the entire urethra and adjacent AVW were analyzed. These tissue samples were fixed within 4-12 hours of death and divided into 5-mm transverse slices that were paraffin embedded. Sections cut from each slice were immunolabeled for PSA or PSAP and a neighboring section was stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The sections were reviewed by light microscopy and analyzed using QuPath software.
Observations: In tissue from all donors, glandular structures expressing PSA and/or PSAP were located within the wall of the urethra and were present along its whole length.
Results: In the proximal half of the urethra from all donors, small glands expressing PSAP, but not PSA, were observed adjacent to the and emptying into the lumen. In the distal half of the urethra from 5 of the 7 donors, tubuloacinar structures lined by a glandular epithelium expressed both PSA and PSAP. In addition, columnar cells at the surface of structures with a multilayered transitional epithelium in the distal half of the urethra from all donors expressed PSAP. No glands expressing PSA or PSAP were found in tissues surrounding the urethra, including the AVW.
Clinical implications: Greater understanding of the distribution of urethral glands expressing prostatic proteins in female patients is important because these glands are reported to contribute to the female sexual response and to urethral pathology, including urethral cysts, diverticula, and adenocarcinoma.
Strengths and limitations: Strengths of the present study include the use of rapid autopsy to minimize protein degradation and autolysis, and the preparation of large tissue sections to demonstrate precise anatomical relations within all the tissues surrounding the urethral lumen. Limitations include the sample size and that all donors had advanced malignancy and had undergone previous therapy which may have had unknown tissue effects.
Conclusion: Proximal and distal glands expressing prostate-specific proteins were observed in tissue from all donors, and these glands were located only within the wall of the urethra.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Sexual Medicine publishes multidisciplinary basic science and clinical research to define and understand the scientific basis of male, female, and couples sexual function and dysfunction. As an official journal of the International Society for Sexual Medicine and the International Society for the Study of Women''s Sexual Health, it provides healthcare professionals in sexual medicine with essential educational content and promotes the exchange of scientific information generated from experimental and clinical research.
The Journal of Sexual Medicine includes basic science and clinical research studies in the psychologic and biologic aspects of male, female, and couples sexual function and dysfunction, and highlights new observations and research, results with innovative treatments and all other topics relevant to clinical sexual medicine.
The objective of The Journal of Sexual Medicine is to serve as an interdisciplinary forum to integrate the exchange among disciplines concerned with the whole field of human sexuality. The journal accomplishes this objective by publishing original articles, as well as other scientific and educational documents that support the mission of the International Society for Sexual Medicine.