Abstract：
The prostate undergoes normal or pathological morphological changes throughout life. An understanding of these changes is fundamental for the comprehension of aging-related pathological processes such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and cancer. In the present study, we show some of these morphological changes, as well as histochemical techniques like Weigert\'s resorcin-fuchsin method, Picrosirius Red, and Gömöri\'s reticulin for use as tools in the study of prostate tissue under light microscopy. For this purpose, prostates of the Mongolian gerbil (n = 9), an experimental model that develops BPH spontaneously, were analyzed at three life stages: young (1 month old), adult (3 months old), and old (15 months old). The results showed that fibrillar components such as collagen, and reticular and elastic fibers, change throughout life. In young animals, the prostate has cuboidal epithelium surrounded by thin layers of smooth muscle, continuous collagen fibers, winding reticular fibers, and sporadic elastic fibers. With adulthood, the epithelium becomes columnar, encircled by compacted muscle cells among slender collagen fibers, elongated reticular fibers, and linear elastic fibers. In aging individuals, the prostate\'s epithelium stratifies, surrounded by thick muscle layers among dense collagen fibers, disordered reticular fibers, and elastic fibers in different planes. We also identified a few accumulations of lipid droplets and lipofuscin granules in adult animals and high accumulation in old animals evidenced by Oil red O and Gömöri-Halmi techniques, respectively. The histochemical techniques presented here have been demonstrated to be useful and accessible tools in prostate studies. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Cytochemical techniques to study prostate morphology. The prostate changes with age.
摘要：
前列腺在一生中经历正常或病理性形态变化。了解这些变化对于理解与衰老相关的病理过程（例如良性前列腺增生（BPH）和癌症）至关重要。在本研究中,我们展示了一些形态变化，以及组织化学技术，如Weigert的间苯二酚-品红方法，黄连红,和Gömöriticulin用作光学显微镜下研究前列腺组织的工具。为此,蒙古沙鼠的前列腺（n=9），自发发展BPH的实验模型，在三个生命阶段进行了分析：年轻(1个月大)，成人（3个月大），和年龄（15个月大）。结果表明，胶原蛋白等纤维状成分，网状和弹性纤维，改变整个生活。在年轻的动物中，前列腺有立方体上皮被薄层平滑肌包围，连续胶原纤维，缠绕的网状纤维，和零星的弹性纤维。随着成年，上皮变成柱状,在细长的胶原纤维中被紧密的肌肉细胞包围，细长的网状纤维，和线性弹性纤维。在衰老的个体中，前列腺的上皮分层，被致密胶原纤维中厚厚的肌肉层包围，网状纤维紊乱，和不同平面的弹性纤维。我们还确定了成年动物中脂质滴和脂褐素颗粒的一些积累，以及油红O和Gömöri-Halmi技术证明的老年动物中的高积累，分别。此处介绍的组织化学技术已被证明是前列腺研究中有用且易于使用的工具。研究重点：研究前列腺形态的细胞化学技术。前列腺随年龄而改变。
