SUMMARY :
Reinier de Graaf, a Dutch physiologist and histologist, was
the first to describe the female prostate and to assign it this term and was also
the first who attempted to formulate the function of this female organ. Description
of the American gynecologist Alexander J.C. Skene became the subject of considerable
debate increasing lack of attention and importance to the female prostate in spite
of the elegant studies of the American gynecologist Huffman. At the beginning
of 20th century the female prostate was referred to as Skene’s para-urethral
ducts and glands, as an insignificant rudimentary vestigial organ without any
importance in the life of women. The expression of the prostate-specific antigen
in female Skene’s para-urethral glands and ducts and structural and functional
parameters and diseases similar to that of the male prostate have provided convincing
evidence for the existence of the prostate in women. Federative International
Committee on Anatomical Terminology (FICAT) at the 2001 meeting at Orlando, FL,
USA has agreed to mention the term female prostate (prostata feminina) in the
new forthcoming edition of Histology Terminology.
This decision prohibits
further use of the terms of paraurethral glands and ducts, or Skene’s glands
for designation of prostate in the human female.
The contemporary research
presents the female prostate as an organ with inferior parameters (weight, size,
functional productivity) if compared with the male prostate, similarly to many
other organs in man. Its average weight is 5.2 g, representing 1/5 to 1/4 of the
weight of an adult male prostate. The female prostate is situated in the wall
of the urethra that limits its size and weight. Despite the smaller space, its
cellular equipment furnishes exocrine function (production of female prostatic
fluid) and neuroendocrine function. Equally to the male prostate, glands, ducts
and smooth muscle cells (muscle-fibrous tissue) form the female prostate.
The
structure, including the ultrastructure of secretory (luminal), basal (reserve)
and intermediary cells of the female prostate glands, corresponds to the structure
of the same cells in glands of the prostate of an adult male. Also the function
of these cells is the same as in the male prostate. Both, the basal cells and
from them derived intermediary cells, take part in the renewal of exocrine (secretory)
cells of the female prostate glands. (Immuno) histochemistry proved activity of
lysosomal and prostate- specific acid phosphatase (PSAP) and disclosed the expression
of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the luminal-apical part of the secretory
cells of the female prostate. The expression of the highly specific antigen of
the male prostate in this female structure implies the necessity to use the unambiguous
term "prostate" also in women. This excludes the Skene’s eponym
(Skene’s glands) or the histological descriptive term "paraurethral
glands and ducts", still nowadays incorrectly used by some to identify the
female prostate. The terminology decision of FICAT with introducting the term
"prostata feminina" respects the novel data achieved in the research
of the female prostate.