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THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM: PROSTATE
The prostate is a complicated organ. In part, it is a storehouse for a series of tiny, spongy glands; the minilobes that make up these glands form fifteen to thirty secretory ducts, which empty their contents into the urethra. Buried in its fibromuscular tissue are alveoli, cul-de-sacs lined with a forest of tall, column-shaped secretory cells that drain into the urethra via a system of branching ducts and tubes.
The ingredients of the prostate’s secretions, in a clear, mildly acidic fluid, are many and varied: They include citric acid, acid phosphatase, spermine, potassium, calcium and zinc. The prostate is regulated by sex hormones called androgens, which come from the testes. Foremost among these is testosterone, produced in the testes but controlled by a hormone from the pituitary gland, called luteinizing hormone. Testosterone, released from the testes, circulates in the blood. It enters cells in the prostate by diffusion, like water through a tea bag, and soon is transformed into another chemical called dihy-drotestosterone (DHT). DHT hooks up chemically with a specific protein, moves to the cellular seat of power—the nucleus—and quickly becomes a powerful force in the transmission of genetic information from prostate cells.
Some components of prostatic secretions may serve to protect the urinary tract and reproductive system from harmful substances in the body that may enter the urethra (see “What Is Semen?“). Perhaps most significant among these is prostate-specific antigen (PSA), an enzyme detectable by a blood test. In recent years, the PSA test has become a crucial addition to medicine’s arsenal for detecting, and thus treating, prostate cancer and BPH.
For all we know about prostatic secretions, their exact role in sexual function is still an enigma. And, problems in the prostate, unlike those in most bodily systems, don’t manifest themselves with symptoms easily traceable to prostate function. Urinary trouble generally is the first sign that something’s not right in the prostate.
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