HISTOGENESIS OF THE FETAL VAGINA OF THE EGYPTIAN WATER BUFFALO (BOS BUBALUS L.)

The histogenesis of the fetal vagina of the water buffalo in Egypt was studied from a series of female fetuses ranging from 26 to 105 cm CVRL. The luminal surface of the mucosa was regular in the 26 cm CVRL stage. It became thrown into longitudinal folds in the succeed ing stages.
The entire epithelial lining was made up of a single layer of cylindrical cells identical to those lining the endometrium. Hence, it is suggested that it is Müllerian-derived. These cells were actively secreting glyco gen, neutral and acid mucins, especially in the early stages.
Monocytes and other mononuclear leukocytes were a characteristic feaure of the lamina propria-submucosa, and it was suggested that they may have an inhibiting effect on collagen synthesis, to induce the growth and proliferation of the mucosal venous plexus. The latter was in the form of a vascular layer at the border between the lamina propria and submucosa in full-term fetuses.
The muscular coat reached its greatest thickness in the full-term fetus; at that stage it was the thickest of the three coats composing the
vaginal wall