Secretory Function of the Prostate, Seminal Vesicle, Cowper’s Gland and Other Accessory Organs of Reproduction

Abstract

The complicated make-up of the seminal plasma, and the role which the male accessory secretions play in the elaboration of this body fluid did not escape the notice of Littre and other anatomists of his day, but over two centuries passed before the properties of the individual secretions were recognized and their physicochemical characteristics elucidated. It took some time again before primitive examination of accessory glands by palpation or at laparotomy as the sole criterion of their functional condition was replaced by quantifiable biochemical methods. The rationale for the adoption of the modern approach rests upon the fact that these glands secrete a number of characteristic substances that at ejaculation enter the semen, in which they can be determined accurately in very small amounts of material. The chemical methods have stood the test of time well and have been discussed at length (Mann 1974b, 1975a; Mann and Lutwak-Mann 1976). Only relatively recently, as a result of chemical investigations, has the extent of the remarkable species differences in the secretory activity of the accessory glands received due attention. At the same time it became clear that species variations apart, there are considerable individual fluctuations in the secretory output, arising from differences in the size of accessory organs and conditioned by hormonal influences in the prostate and seminal vesicles in particular.

“La liqueur séminale telle qu’elle est quand elle sort pour usage, est un melange des plusieurs que versent en meme temps dans le canal commun de l’Urethre, des glandes qui les ont travaillées, ou des réservoirs qui les ont gardées.” Littré 1700