Parenchyma of prostate

The parenchyma (substance) of the prostate is of a pale reddish-gray color, of great density, and not easily torn. It consists of glandular substance and muscular tissue.

The muscular tissue according to Kölliker, constitutes the proper stroma of the prostate; the connective tissue being very scanty, and simply forming between the muscular fibers, thin trabeculæ, in which the vessels and nerves of the gland ramify. The muscular tissue is arranged as follows: immediately beneath the fibrous capsule is a dense layer, which forms an investing sheath for the gland; secondly, around the urethra, as it lies in the prostate, is another dense layer of circular fibers, continuous above with the internal layer of the muscular coat of the bladder, and blending below with the fibers surrounding the membranous portion of the urethra. Between these two layers strong bands of muscular tissue, which decussate freely, form meshes in which the glandular structure of the organ is imbedded. In that part of the gland which is situated in front of the urethra the muscular tissue is especially dense, and there is here little or no gland tissue; while in that part which is behind the urethra the muscular tissue presents a wide-meshed structure, which is densest at the base of the gland—that is, near the bladder—becoming looser and more sponge-like toward the apex of the organ.

The glandular substance is composed of numerous follicular pouches the lining of which frequently shows papillary elevations. The follicles open into elongated canals, which join to form from twelve to twenty small excretory ducts. They are connected together by areolar tissue, supported by prolongations from the fibrous capsule and muscular stroma, and enclosed in a delicate capillary plexus. The epithelium which lines the canals and the terminal vesicles is of the columnar variety. The prostatic ducts open into the floor of the prostatic portion of the urethra, and are lined by two layers of epithelium, the inner layer consisting of columnar and the outer of small cubical cells. Small colloid masses, known as amyloid bodies are often found in the gland tubes.