prostate

Function

• the prostate secretes a milky fluid (prostatic fluid) into the prostatic urethra at the time of emission of semen.

Structure

• a retroperitoneal chestnut-shaped gland surrounding the proximal end of the urethra in males.
• there are two lateral lobes connected anteriorly by an isthmus & posteriorly by a middle lobe
• the middle lobe lies above & between the two ejaculatory ducts

• the prostate consists of 30-50 compound tubuloalveolar glands within stroma consisting of collagen, elastic fibers & many smooth muscle bundles in circumferential arrangement about the acini & ducts.

• in the normal adult, the gland weighs about 20 grams

Pathology

Three pathologic processes commonly affect the prostate:

• inflammation (prostatitis)
• benign prostatic hypertrophy (may be nodular)
• prostate cancer

⧼aaushi-heading-development⧽

• the prostate develops from epithelial invaginations that appear along the urethra during the 3rd month of gestation
• these give rise to 5 individual groups of tubules which ultimately form the prostate
• between, birth & puberty, there is little prostatic development
• the prostate enlarges under the influence of testosterone at puberty

More general terms

• exocrine gland
• urogenital system structure

Additional terms

• beta-microseminoprotein; immunoglobulin-binding factor; IGBF; PN44; prostate secreted seminal plasma protein; prostate secretory protein of 94 amino acids; PSP-94; PSP94; seminal plasma beta-inhibin (MSMB, PRSP)
• CD82 (metastasis suppressor Kangai 1, KAI1, C33 antigen, IA4, inducible membrane protein R2, tetraspanin-27, Tspan-27)
• fibroblast growth factor 2; FGF-2; basic fibroblast growth factor; bFGF; heparin-binding growth factor 2; HBGF-2; prostatropin (FGF2, FGFB)
• galectin-8; gal-8; prostate carcinoma tumor antigen 1; PCTA-1; Po66 carbohydrate-binding protein; Po66-CBP (LGALS8)
• glutamate carboxypeptidase 2
• growth/differentiation factor 15
• olfactory receptor 51E2; olfactory receptor OR11-16; prostate-specific G-protein coupled receptor; HPRAJ (OR51E2 PSGR)
• PRKC apoptosis WT1 regulator protein; prostate apoptosis response 4 protein; par-4 (PAWR PAR4)
• prostate structure
• prostate-specific antigen; PSA; gamma-seminoprotein; seminin; kallikrein-3; P-30 antigen; semenogelase (KLK3 APS)
• prostatic acid phosphatase (histidine acid phosphatase, ACPP)
• prostatic disease
• prostatic nervous plexus
• prostatic urethra
• prostatic utricle (Weber organ, vesica prostatica, vagina masculina, uterus masculinus)
• prostatic venous plexus

Component of

• urogenital system

Components

• ejaculatory duct
• seminal gland (vesicle)