Male Histology Flashcards
What are the testes covered in?
Thick connective tissue called tunica albuginea Then tunica vasculosa Then seminiferous tubules
Which hormones do the testes produce?
Testosterone Inhibin Mullerian inhibiting hormone (MIH)
What surrounds the seminiferous tubules?
Perilobar connective tissue - collagen Between the tubules are Leydig cells
What do Leydig cells secrete?
Testosterone
What lines the seminieferous tubules?
Developing spermatognia
Spermatogonia lie deepest in the tubular wall. Develop into spermatocytes (SC) which differentiate into spermatids
What is also contained in the seminferous epithelium?
Sertoli cells - have a supporting role for the developing germ cells
Myofibroblasts with large elongated nuclei - contractile function
As the germ cells mature, what are they surrounded by and why?
Enveloped by processes of Sertoli cells. The membranes of the Sertoli cells are connected by gap junctions which form a blood-testis barrier to protect the germ cells.
Which hormones are involved in the development and maintenance of Sertoli cells?
FSH for development of pre-pubertal Sertoli cells
Testosterone maintains them
What are the tubuli recti (straight tubules) lined with?
Simple cuboidal epithelium
What is at the end of the seminferous tubules, where they drin into the straight tubules?
Sertoli cells which form a plug
Route that sperm travel down?
Semineferous tubules -> straight tubules -> rete testis -> efferent ductules -> epididymis -> vas deferens -> ejaculatory duct -> prostatic urethra
What are the rete testis tubules set in?
Loos connective tissue
What are the rete testis lined with?
Cuboidal
Ciliated columnar
What is the epididymis lined with?
Pseudostratified columnar epithelium with stereocilia on the apical membrane.
Outside layer has smooth muscle, the amount of which increases as the epididymis approaches the vas deferens.
What are the layers of the wall of the vas deferens?
Epithelium - pseudostratified columnar
Lamina propria (loose CT)
Three layers of smooth muscle, the middle being circular
What marks the beginning of the ejaculatory duct?
Where the duct of the seminal gland combines with the vas deferens
What type of glands are the seminal vesicles?
Coiled tubosaccular glands
Epithelium of the seminal vesicle ducts?
Psuedostratified columnar
There are basal cells which can mature into epithelial cells
What does the epithelium of the seminal vesicles produce?
Secretion rich in fructose, prostaglandins and proteins - the fluid which forms the main bulk of the ejaculate
What type of glands does the prostate have?
Tubuloalveolar
What is the arrangement of the prostate?
Glands arranged in three groups around the urethra
Called the mucosal, submucosal and main glands
What surrounds the prostate gland and what does it do?
Fibromuscular capsule from which septae divide the gland into lobules
What do the glands in the prostate secrete?
Acid phosphatase
Prostate specific antigen
What is the epithelium of the prostate?
Heterogenous
- cuboidal
- columnar
- pseudostratified
- simple squamous
What are prostatic concretions (corpora amylacea)
Lamellated bodies containing proteins, nucleic acids, cholesterol and calcium phosphate.
Seen in older men
