Morphological abnormality of the epithelium in the prostate gland of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Abstract

Histopathological and electron microscopical studies were made on epithelial cells of the prostate gland in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and compared with those of Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). The prostate gland tissue of SHR showed a developmental retardation at 5 weeks of age. At and after 18 weeks of age (terminal experimental age was 31 weeks), and glands were small in size with tall columnar epithelial cells, frequently protruding into the glandular lumens and scant secretory substance. On the other hand, the prostate of WKY had large-sized glands with small columnar or cuboidal epithelial cells and with abundant secretory substance. Electron-microscopically, the cytoplasm of glandular epithelial cells of SHR had well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), but Golgi apparatus was small in size and undeveloped. In addition, there were fewer condensed vacuoles and secretory granules. From these findings, it was considered that transfer of secretory materials from RER to Golgi apparatus was congenitally disturbed and the secretory cycle was inhibited in the epithelium of the prostate gland of SHR.