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Acinus

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
acinus [′as·ə·nəs]
(anatomy)
The small terminal sac of an acinous gland, lined with secreting cells.
(botany)
An individual drupelet of a multiple fruit.

Acinus 

(1) A structural and functional unit or the terminal secretory portion of the salivary, pancreatic, lacteal, sebaceous, or other saccular (alveolar) glands. The acinus is a bubble-like formation of one or more types of gland cells situated on a basement membrane and surrounded by connective tissue, capillaries, and nerve fibers. The apexes of the cells with their microvilli are directed toward the chamber of the acinus into which the secretion is discharged.

(2) A part of the respiratory apparatus in mammals that includes a section of the lung corresponding to the branches of the terminal bronchus—that is, the bronchioles, alveolar passages, and alveoli. One pulmonary lobule consists of 12–18 acini.



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sperm morulae floating free in the lumen of the acinus of the testis).
Prahalada et al (24) reported that chronic administration of finasteride resulted in a decrease in the weight of the rat prostate compared with controls, and this finding correlated with a decrease in the total number of epithelial and stromal cells per acinus throughout the treated rat prostate, although they found no qualitative differences in prostatic morphology between the control and finasteride-treated groups.
The observed synergistic effects were localized to the central acinus, an area that undergoes distinct biochemical and structural changes in response to long-term [O.
 
 
 
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