The Journal of urology
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The Journal of urology · Mar 1997
Extrinsic innervation of the cat prostate gland: a combined tracing and immunohistochemical study.
The purpose of the present study was to determine the peripheral neural pathways, spinal distribution, sizes, and peptide transmitter content of primary afferent and autonomic efferent neurons that innervate the prostate gland. ⋯ First, clinical reports suggested that sensory innervation of the prostate would be purely nociceptive in nature (implied by small, peptide-IR neurons). However, the present study suggests that there may also be a substantial, presumably non-nociceptive, afferent innervation (implied by findings of large, non-IR neurons). Second, 3 sources of autonomic efferent innervation exist, each being different in the distribution of transmitter phenotypes. Understanding the physiological role of putative non-nociceptive primary afferent neurons, and the differential roles of the various autonomic neurons, is likely to be important in developing therapies for the treatment of prostatic diseases, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatodynia.