Expression of androgen receptor and cyclooxygenase-2 in the vesicular glands of castrated and intact goat

This study was conducted to demonstrate the effect of castration on the structure of vesicular glands of the Egyptian Nubian (Zaraibi) goat. Vesicular glands of castrated (n = 4) and intact (n = 6) goat were used for histological and immunohistochemical evaluations. In this study, we report the difference in cell specific expression of androgen receptor (AR) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the vesicular glands of castrated and intact goats. In both castrated and intact goats, the present study revealed no immunopositive cells for AR or COX-2 in the fibromuscular stroma meanwhile, AR and COX-2 containing immunoreactive cells were restricted only to the epithelium of the secretory acini of the vesicular gland. Such finding suggests androgen and COX-2 as important regulators for the growth and secretory activity of epithelial cells in the vesicular gland of goats. Overall, the vesicular gland of castrated goats showed significantly (P < 0.05) lower AR and COX-2 immuno-expression than intact goats indicating that both AR and COX-2 are androgen dependent.