Innervation of the ventral prostate of the rat.

The autonomic innervation of the rat ventral prostate was studied in an attempt to evaluate the role of innervation in the normal function of the gland. Specific histochemical methods for both catecholamines (the formaldehyde-induced fluorescence method, FIF) and acetylcholinesterases (the Gomori-Koelle thiocholine method) were used. The neuro-effector contacts were studied by electron microscopy using both 3% glutaraldehyde and 3% potassium permanganate (KMnO4) as fixatives. It was found that the rat ventral prostate receives dual autonomic innervation. Adrenergic fibers, which formed the majority of the nerves, were often seen in close contact with the smooth muscle cells around both the prostatic alveoli and secretory ducts. The non-adrenergic nerve fibers, which were fewer in number, did not form such intimate contacts with the muscle cells. No direct synapses with epithelial cells were detected.