um accessory sex glands include the seminal vesicle um prostate and the bulbo urethal or calers gland it's important to think about um the fact that where the sperm are going first they go through the urethra and the urethra has um it's acidic generally because urine tends to be acidic and then from the urethra it goes into the the vagina and the vagina is acidic and sperm can't live in an acidic environment so one of the things that we have to do is try to neutralize the acid in both of those spots and we do this through the uh secretions from these accessory sex glands so the seminal vesicle has an alkaline viscous fluid it has fructose in it fructose serves as an energy source for the sperm because they have to swim like crazy to get where they got to go and they need energy to do so it also has prostate glands and the prostate glands are we'll talk more about those later but they are important in um fertilization it also has clotting proteins and we'll talk about that in a little bit too the sperm must clot up the semen excuse me must clot up after ejaculation and then it Rel liquifies um so the alkaline nature of the fluid helps to neutralize the acid and allow the sperm to live the fructos is for ATP prostate glands are important in motility and viability and the clotting protein is SEMO gelon and that causes the um semen to clot or coagulate after ejaculation okay this is just showing the seminal vesicle then the prostate and then the bulbo Ure gland again the seminal vesicles add alkaline viscous fluid fructose prostate gandin and seog jelin the prostate is a small gland about the size of a golf ball or a walnut uh it's inferior to the urinary bladder and it's surrounds the prostatic urethra so it has like a little tunnel inside of it through through which the urethra goes now this is a little odd because we're thinking we need alkaline to neutralize the acid but um the prostates is slightly acidic the secretions and that's because um it secretes citric acid and citric acid is important in um because it can enter the mitochondria and be used to produce ATP it can enter the the kreb cycle which is also called the citric acid cycle so this is also going to provide an energy source for the sperm there are acid phosphatases in there uh some different proteolytic enzymes which means enzymes that are going to break down proteins and these proteolytic enzymes include prostate specific antigen which you probably heard of PSA pepsinogen Lyme Amala hyaluronidase okay all of these different enzymes are going to help to liquefy the coagulated semen um so the clotting Protein that's released from the seminol vesicle the seog gelin helps to cause the semen to coagulate and then these enzymes are going to help it to Li reliquify following coagulation prostatitis is a common group of disorders that um are common particularly in men as they get older um they can cause symptoms like difficult urination urinary increase in urinary frequency pain or it can be an inflammation that cause is asymptomatic so the prostate is a single organ um beneath the bladder pH of the fluid is 6.5 so it's slightly acidic and that's because of the citric acid and has enzymes for liquefaction of the um semen there are lots of openings into the duct and as guys get older it also gets larger um that's called benign prostatic um hypertrophy or hyperplasia um that can be that happens a lot in general it's not necessarily um cancer but you the enlarged prostate can be a sign of Cancer as well so it's important um to see a doctor and get regular regular prostate checkups the bulbo urethal or cers glands secret mainly mucus as well as an more alkalinity to neutralize acid so the seminal vesicle and C glands secrete an alkaline fluid and the prostate is slightly acidic so the small bubble urethal or cowers glands are going to contribute secretions and then it goes right into the spongy urethra so semen is a mixture of sperm and accessory sex gland secretions that are going to give it the fluid in which the sperm are transported provides sperm with nutrients neutralizes acidity there's antibiotic that's the um Lyme seminol plasmine as well as prostatic enzymes and these help to coagulate and then liquefy semen uh that's important because it helps the the sperm move into this into the uterus through the cervix about five minutes after ejaculation the semen coagulates and then in about another 10 to 20 minutes it reifies typical ejaculate is about 2 to five Ms in volume and normal sperm count is 50 to 150 million per Mill so if the sperm count is below 50 even though you know that's still quite a few sperm a man may be considered to be infertile um when they do fertility tests they don't just look at the number though they look at the shape of the sperm they look at um if the sperm can swim um some of them just swim around in little circles and certainly aren't going to be able to fertilize an egg that way so they have to have forward motility um that doesn't mean that you still can't have a baby it just means that it has to be done in vitro the penis has the urethra uh the spongy urethra or penile urethra and it's a passageway for the ejaculation of semen as well as urine uh there are three different erectile tissue masses in there that are filled with sinuses or or cavities for blood it's lined by endothelium which is simple squamous epithelia cells and it's surrounded by smooth muscle and elastic connective tissue so the three erectile tissue masses are the uh Corporal cavernosa penis and the Corpus spongiosum penis the four parts to it the root the body um and the glands penis and the root consists of the bulb and the cura so we have the bulb and the KRA of the body and the gland's penis so here you this is the root the bulb is an extension that comes out of the Corpus spongiosum penis it continues on as the Corpus spongiosum and the Corpus spongiosum then is going to continue on and make the glands penis so these are all one interconnected part the cura singular is Cru of the penis is going to continue on as the um corpora cabosa penis so if we look at the crosssection here we have the two the paired uh corpora cavernosa penis and here is the Corpus spongiosum tube that surrounds urethra the um we also have if you look at the cross- section here the tuna alenia goes around both of these sections as as well as the spongy urethra uh additionally there is um the corona which is The Ridge at the top of the head of the penis or at the base of the head of the penis the and also a preuse or for skin the opening is the external urethal orifice