Bilateral dimorphism of Loewenthal's gland in young male albino rats: an ultrastructural investigation

This study represents a further contribution to our knowledge about the structure of Loewenthal's gland. There are several divergences in the available literature on the topic, concerning both the histological and ultrastructural findings. However, in these studies, the authors did not take into account the potential influence of a putative side-dependent dimorphism previously reported by us. We therefore carried out histological and electronmicroscopic observations specifically aimed at evaluating the importance of the gland shape for its structure. In particular, in male albino rats aged 70-120 days, we compared the structure of the left and right glands. Depending on the side undergoing morphological investigation, we observed differences in the acini, cells, nuclei, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and granular content. Apart from slight individual differences, we found that structural variations were most frequently observed in glands displaying a more evident macroscopic side-specific dimorphism. Our findings demonstrate that several conflicting data in the literature dealing with the structure of Loewenthal's glands might be explained by the morphofunctional side-dependent dimorphism of the organ.