Cowper’s gland

Einally, external urethral sphincter (voluntary sphincter, or rhabdosphincter) is a striated circumscribing structure emanating from the bladder neck and bladder base detrusor through the mid-urethra in the female and intermediate prostatic urethra in the male. While also surrounding Cowper s glands in the male, these rhabdosphincter subunits contract, most likely, only with ejaculation (Hutch, 1972 Elbadawi, 1980), along with simultaneous anal rhabdosphincter, bulbo-cavernosus muscle, and cremaster muscle contractions. 

In a rabbit study, hydroquinone at 150 mg kg day produced minimal developmental alterations in the presence of maternal toxicity. The no-observed-effect level for developmental toxicity was 75mgkg day In rat studies, maternal toxic effects from exposure to hydroquinone included changes in the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and menstrual cycle. Postimplantation mortality was also observed in rat studies. Observed paternal toxic effects from exposure to hydroquinone included changes in the testes, epididymis, sperm duct, prostate, seminal vesicle, Cowper s gland, accessory glands, and male fertility index. Further, exposure to hydroquinone produced skeletal malformations in chickens and ocular and skeletal malformations in rabbits. Hydroquinone can induce renal tubule adenomas, bladder carcinomas, hepatocellular neoplasms, and mononuclear cell leukemia in experimental animals. 

The male reproductive anatomy includes the penis, two testes, and a system of exocrine glands whose secretions form the seminal fluid. The exocrine glands consist of the two bulbourethral glands (Cowper s glands), two seminal vesicles, and the prostate. The bilateral ducts that connect this system and transport sperm and seminal fluid are the epididymis, the vas deferens, and the ejaculatory duct, which enters the urethra. 

Concanavalin A, succinylated Cowper s gland mucous, desialylised... 

A pair of pea-sized glands that lie beneath the prostate gland. Cowper s glands secrete an alkaline fluid that forms part of the semen. This fluid neutralizes the acidic environment of the urethra, thereby protecting the sperm. The glands are named after William Cowper (1666-1709). See also seminal vesicle. 

Syringocele or cystic dilatation of Cowper s gland ducts is a lesion of uncertain origin, though probably congenital since it is commonly found in young patients with negative clinical history. 

Maizels M, Stephens FD, King LR, Firlit CF (1983) Cowper s syringocele a classification of dilatations of Cowper s gland duct based upon clinical characteristics of eight boys. J Urol 129 111-114... 

Cobb s Collar, Urethral Diverticula and Cowper s Gland Cysts 130... 

Cobb s collar (Cobb et al. 1968) is a congenital narrowing of the bulbar urethra with no connection to the verumontanum (Dewan et al. 1994). It was shown that Cobb s collar is frequently associated with tubular or cystic dilatation of Cowper s glands ducts (also called syringocele) (Dewan 1996), both structures arising embryologically from the urogenital membrane area. 

Fig. 6.10. Urethrography in an adolescent boy. Normal visualization of Cowper s glands...

Dewan PA (1996) A study of the relationship between syrin-goceles and Cobb s collar. Eur Urol 30 119-124 Dhillon HK, Yeung CK, Duffy PG et al (1993) Cowper s glands cysts-a cause of transient intra-uterine bladder outflow obstruction. Fetal Diagn Ther 8 51-55 Diard F, EklOf O, Lebowitz RL et al (1981) Urethral obstruction in boys caused by prolapse of simple ureterocele. Pediatr Radiol 11 139-142... 

Most lysosomal sialidases preferentially catalyze the hydrolysis of the a2-3-linked sialic acids compared to the a2-6 residues. Exceptions to this are the enzymes from rabbit spermatozoal acrosomes (Srivastava and Abou-Issa, 1977) and human liver (Michalski et aL, 1982), which are more active on a2-6-linked sialic acids on glycoproteins, i.e., Cowper s gland mucin or submandibular gland mucin. The enzymes from human liver and porcine testis are more active on a2-8-linked sialic acids in colominic acid than other lysosomal enzymes (Table III). 

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