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Diagnosis | Clitoral gland abscess

Lab Animal volume 38, pages 148–149 (2009)Cite this article

Histopathology of other tissues showed focal, minimal lymphoplasmacytic myocarditis in the left ventricular myocardium; focal, mild lymphoplasmacytic interstitial nephritis in the kidney; and moderate white pulp hyperplasia of the spleen. We grossly saw one enlarged clitoral gland, but histopathology showed that both clitoral glands were severely affected with extensive abscesses. We considered that the myocarditis and nephritis were possibly related to the clitoral gland abscesses, through bacteremia and secondary colonization. The splenic white pulp hyperplasia is consistent with long-term antigenic stimulation due to the abscesses.

Mice possess bilateral subcutaneous modified sebaceous glands close to the external genitalia2,3. In females, they are called clitoral or preputial glands. In males, they are called preputial glands. Franks4 appropriately described them as “flat, leaf like” glands. They are branched tubuloalveolar, holocrine glands5,6 located lateral and slightly anterior to the external genitalia. In females, a gland is located on either side of the clitoris, in the subcutaneous fat, close to the inguinal mammary gland tissue, and the excretory duct opens near the urethral opening, at the top of the clitoris. In males, the duct opens near the junction of the skin and prepuce5. The clitoral and preputial glands are androgen-sensitive7 and hence are usually smaller in females than in males7,8. Examination of two mouse strains, ICR and Kunming, found that the males' glands were almost 10 times heavier than those in females7.Treatment with androgens such as testosterone can increase preputial gland size in female mice3.

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Figure 3: Photomicrographs of sections of tissue associated with the mass found in a female mouse.

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Diagnosis | Clitoral gland abscess. Lab Anim 38, 148–149 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0509-148

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