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The vagina connects the cervix to the outside. The epithelium of the vagina and the cervix is continuous except at the lateral walls, where the vagina forms deep vaginal fornices (vaginal fornices are depicted in Cervix, 4X). The wall of the vagina consists of, from inside to outside, stratified squamous epithelium, folded mucosa without glands, fibrous lamina propria, a thin muscularis composed of inner circular and outer longitudinal smooth muscle layers, and adventitia. The morphology of the vaginal epithelium of rodents changes in response to hormone levels, which vary in the estrous cycle stages. The changes in vaginal epithelium are illustrated in Vagina –Stages.
All micrographs depict the vagina in proestrus. The 4X micrograph shows the various layers of the vagina. The 10X, 20X, and 40X micrographs present the stratified squamous epithelium and the lamina propria in increasing detail. The 20X micrograph shows a blood vessel in the lamina propria. The 40X displays the different layers of the stratified squamous epithelium.
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