Objectives:

1. Encapsulated organ
2. Cortex/medulla organization
3. Fibrous C.T. layer encapsulating organ, the tunica albuginea
4. Simple cuboidal epithelium (continuous with mesothelium of the peritoneal cavity) also known as "germinal epithelium" (a misnomer)
5. Cortex/Ovarian stroma

129B Ovary, human, Masson
These slides show almost no developing follicles, although some slides show part of a large atretic follicle. However, these slides show several corpus albicans in various stages of involution. These can be identified as the green swirls of acellular tissue scattered throughout the cortex.
 

130 Ovary, mature follicle, cat

Most of these slides have a cut through the hilus and show extensive vasculature within the medulla which is probably the pampiniform plexus. One very nice feature of these slides is the pronounced basement membrane that separates the granulosa cells from the theca interna cells. This is very prominent in the late primary and secondary follicles but can also be seen in the prImordial follicles.

 
B. Corpus luteum

1. Corpus hemorrhagicum

131B Corpus luteum of pregnancy, human
Note the very large size of this corpus luteum which is not even completely contained within the section. The very pale regions of delicate tissue are apparently the remenants of the corpus hemmoraghicum from which the RBCs have long ago been phagocytized. There are very few follicles in this slide, but some atretic ones can be found with some persistent searching. The granulosa lutein cells are pale stained, somewhat foamy, whereas the theca lutein cells are darker, smaller and reside in cords that separate the granulosa lutein cells.
 

129A Ovary, c. luteum, human, H&E

There are 2 slides of this tissue, both equally good. The highly cellular tissue is cortical stroma. The germinal epithelium is not apparent in either slide. Virtually everything else is corpus luteum. The granulosa lutein cells are large, pale staining with a prominent nucleolus. Interspersed among the granulosa lutein cells are elongated nuclei of endothelial cells from the intricate capillary network that courses through the tissus. Theca lutein cells appear in cords. They can be identified by their smaller but more irregularly shaped nuclei. Don’t confuse them with the endothelial cells, which generally occur in narrow rows consistent with a capillary. Larger blood vessels can be identified by the RBCs in the lumen. The cortical tissue reveals no obvious follicles.
 

132A Corpus luteum, human, Mallory
132B Corpus luteum, human, H&E
These two companion slides are prepared with stains that bring out different aspects of the organ. This corpus lutein still contains significant amounts of blood from the ovulation step. However, the formation of the endocrine gland is advanced. The cortex of this ovary contains virtually no follicles. In the H&E stained preparation, the granulosa lutein cells are relatively less stained than the theca lutein cells. This is especially prominent in the Mallory stained slide. There is also a large corpus albicans in this slide.
 

a. mucosa
b. muscularis
c. serosa

a. Lumen narrows and becomes less folded
b. Visually similar to the vas deferens

133B Oviduct, H&E, human
This appears to be a rather oblique section through the oviduct, not far from the fimbria. The two muscle layers are not very clearly separated and you will take some time to convince yourselves of the presence of two distinct layers. In the mucosa, the two cell types are easy to identify. Extensive vasculature is present. The serosa is present in only a very limited region.

133C Oviduct, MA, human
If you can, look at this slide before you look at 134 . There are only two slides of this tissue. It is an excellent transverse seciton through oviduct. The Mallory-Azan stain highlights the connective tissue, but nevertheless also highlights the ciliated cells, which show cilia quite clearly. Can you identify three other characteristics that distinguish the ciliated cells from the peg cells in this tissue (Some of these characteristics may hold only for this particular tissue). The serosa seems to be present in only a small part of the tissue and is difficult to see anyway because of the intense blue color color the underlying connective tissue.
 

134 Fimbrial End, Oviduct, Masson
These slides are all pretty similar. This one you should hold up to the light and view with the naked eye. Hold it with the label to the left and upright. Most of the edges are jagged and irregular. The dark region in the upper right is actually a transverse section through the portion that communicates with the ampulla. The bottom part is the fimbriated end, which is rather more open (like a funnel) so that the section reveals only one side of the fimbria. The fimbriated end is considered the distal end, whereas the near ampulla portion is the proximal (to the uterus) end. The proximal portion is easy to identify, but has some confusing aspects. First, if you look at the lower portion, i.e. away from the fimbria, you will see the muscularis very clearly; it shows two oriented layers. The orientation on muscle in the oviduct is inner circular, outer longitudinal and here at the bottom, the inner muscularis is cut in cross section, the outer cut longitudinally consistent with a longitudinal cut. However, the section seems itself to be a transverse section. This would seem to indicate that the section is really a steep oblique section. In some slides at the lower left as you look down the binocular (if you mounted the section on the microscope with the label on the left) you will see parts of what appear to be two lumen rather like blood vessels (which are numerous in this organ). These are not blood vessels but rather this is the serosa covering. The mesothelium is rather low cuboidal instead of squamous. Compare the epithelium here with the endothelium of some of the arteries and the CT with the t. media to convince yourself that these are not blood vessels. The epithelium of both the proximal and distal ends of this tissue contain both ciliated and peg cells. The ciliated cells are easy to identify.

133D Fallopian tube, trans. sec., human
This is a rather thicker section than the previous one, but the preservation seems to be quite good. The thickness makes it difficult to identify the ciliataed from the peg cells but you can find areas that are occupied by only cilliated cells which will remove the problem of having ciliated cells superimposing peg cells. A clear serosa surrounds the connective tissue in two places and can be identified by the dark line at the boundary. The circular and lingitudinal smooth muscle in the muscularis seem to be rather intermingled. To what organ or part of the fallopian tube do you attribute the two pieces of columnar epithelium at the left and right hand edges?
 

135 Fallopian tube, isthmus, human
There are two groups of slide of this tissue, both equally good. This region of the oviduct has a look alike in the male reproductive system, namely the vas deferens. The difference is that vas deferens does not havea columnar epithelium with mixed ciliated and peg cells, but has a pseudostratified columnar epithelium with long microvilli. The vas deferens also does not have a serosa. Only part of this tissue has the serosa intact. The inner circular and outer longitudinal smooth muscle are welldefined in this region of the oviduct, which is relatively near the uterus.

138B Uterus, proliferative, Day 4-14, human
Hold this slide up to the light before putting it in the microscope. After you have identified where the endometrium is, look at it by naked eye and try to estimate the thickness of the endometrium. The str. basalis/str. functionalis division is very easy to see. Notice how some of the glands run parallel with the surface, rather than the more expected perpendicuar orientation. If you look in the atlas, you can see somewhat similar orientations in plate 116. The epithelium is very faintly stained and difficult to classify. Lacunae are quite easy to identify in the functionalis. There is also a stratum vasculare in the middle myometrium. The main point to keep in mind with this slide is the distinct basalis/functionalis division. Spiral arteries can be seen in these slides. They can be identified by the fact that many lumen are found in clusters and that the lumen is small. RBCs are cherry red in this preparation.

138C Uterus, H&E, Human
This is a section through all 3 regions of the uterus, endometrium, myometrium and perimetrium. The perimetrium is preserved in only a few places. The large number of vessels in the center of the myometrium are the stratum vasculare. These are described as venous plexuses. It is a good review exeercise to see if you can distinguise between the arteries and veins in this region (Hint: keep in mind what the appearance of smooth muscle in the myometrium). In the myometrium, the smooth muscle orientation is quite confusing. If you look toward the perimetrium, the orientation is more regular, but even here there is come cause for confusion. The layer immediately under the perimetrium is cut longitudinally but is rather thin. Just below it, the layer is cut transversely. As you proceed further in, the orientation becomes almost random. The endometrium is in a proliferative phase with a thickness of about 2 mm (Yes, you need to know these numbers!) The glands are relatively straight. The epithelium of the endometrium is nearly impossible to classify. What you can see particularly clearly are the lacunae in the str. functionalis. The basalis/functionalis boundary is where the highly cellular lamina propria ends and the less cellular region begins.

139A Uterus, secretory, human, H&E

Compare the structure of these glands with those of the proliferating uterus (2nd week). Notice how saw-toothed these glands are compared with proliferating uterus. The surface epithelium is pretty well intact and in places, you can distinguish ciliated cells. Note how the glands have secretory product in the lumen.

139B Uterus, human, progravid phase
The uterine lumen occupies on the apex of this pie slice through the organ. The basalis/functionalis division is clear. The glands appear rather coiled and full of secretory product but not too numerous in the functionalis. The surface epithelium is easyily identified. This is a cross section theough the uterus so that the epitheium on two opposite surfaces is seen in the middle of the tissue. One thing that is rather more easily identified in this tissue than in the others is the lymphatic circulation in the endometrium. Near the glands you can find clusters of lymphocytes. Near the time of ovulation, the mucous plug of the cervix softens to allow sperm to enter the uterus. This softening can also let bacteria enter. The secretions of the endometrium although designed to facilitate the passage of sperm are also an excellent culture medium for bacteria.
 

139C Uterus, secretory, day 23-25, human
Start by holding this slide up to the light and estimating the thickness of the endometrium. Only part of the myometrium is included in the slide. The basalis functionalis division is not as easy to identify in this slide but can be found by comparing the glands which are rather less coiled in the basalis than in the functionalis. The glandular epithelium is obviously secretory because of the clear staining cytoplasm. Notice how some of the secretory cells have an apical nucleus and pale staining basal cytoplasm whereas others have just the opposite. This is a characteristic of early secretory. I would think that this is a rather earlier secretory phase than is indicated in the slide label. The surface epithelium, although not wonderfully preserved is at least identifiably columnar.
 

140 Uterus, menstrual, human, H&E

During menstruation, the functionalis of the uterus is in the process of being sloughed off. The s. functionale (SF) you can identify by the large concentration of glands and by the fact that the epithelium has become separated from the basal lamina, which is a sign of necrotic tissue. The s. basale (SB), in contrast, has glands that are better preserved and relatively less dense. Notice the large number of arteries in the functionalis. The myometrium has bundles of smooth muscle in many orientations. The perimetrium is absent in this slide.

137 Cervix, human, H&E

  This section contains the simple columnar epithelium of the cervical canal (which is interrupted) and the stratified squamous epithelium of the portio vaginalis (which has separated in some places). The cervical glands can be identified by their columnar epithelium and branching structure. The lack of spiral arteries also helps distinguish them from uterine glands. Since this mucosa is not sloghed off during menstruation, the cellular density across it is more uniform, i.e. there is not apparent basalis/functionalis division.

2. Lamina propria - inner and outer regions

4. Bulbospongiosus muscle may be present near the vestibule.

 
142 Vagina, human, H&E

The vagina is a fibromuscular tube lined with a non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. This epithelium is interrupted in some places in this slide. The vagina mucosa is devoid of glands which distinguishes it from the epidermis of skin. Immediately under the epithelium, there is a thin lamina propria and deeper a less cellular connective tissue that forms a submucosa. Even deeper is found a muscularis with smooth muscle fibers. Be sure that you can identify the smooth muscle fibers that define the location of the muscularis

2. Alveolar ducts lined by simple cuboidal epithelium

3. Dense fibrous and fatty connective tissue abound

4. Lactating breast: alveoli distended with milk

5. Irregular branching of alveoli allows one to easily distinguish lactating breast from its look-alike, the thyroid gland

6. Non-lactating mammary gland contains stratified cuboidal ducts; very little if any glandular tissue

7.Proliferating mammary depending on stage has numerous alveolar glands but very little secretory product in the lumen
 
 

143A Breast, non-lact., human, Masson
Non-lactating breast consists mainly of ducts as well as connective and adipose tissue. Because these glands are specialized sweat glands, these ducts will be lined with a stratified cuboidal epithelium. Ducts proliferate under the influence of estrogen and alveoli under the influence of progesterone. The epithelium is not particularly well preserved in this slide, but you can identify the two layers by the relatively well stained luminal layer and the less well stained basal layer which also contains fewer cells. Collagen fibers appear green in this slide and RBCs have a brown color and are present in large numbers in the capillaries surrounding the ducts.
 

143B Breast, non-lact., human
This tissue consists of essentially large excretory ducts and surrounding connective tissue. There is very little adipose tissue.
 

143C Breast, Masson, human
This is a slide of resting breast tissue and contains mostly ducts of varying sizes.

143D Mammary gland, inactive

This slide consists of small stratified cuboidal ducts, surrounding CT and some skeletal muscle. Note that the CT is loose around the ducts and dense between the lobules (groups of ducts in this case).

144 Breast, H&E, human
This is a slide of proliferating mammary gland. There is quite a bit of variation among the different slides. The lack of colloid in the glands is a clear indication that milk production has not yet begun.
 

145A Breast, lactating, human, H&E

The major characteristic of lactating breast is the presence of many glands full of secretory product. These glands are specialized apocrine sweat glands and share many characteristics with them. Because these glands are lined with a cuboidal epithelium, they also appear much like thyroid glands. However, unlike thyroid, breast is an exocrine organ so there are excretory ducts, identifiable in this slide by stratified cuboidal epithelium, and anastamosing glands which connect into the ducts. When you search the tissue, make sure you can identify the anastamosing follicles and the excretory ducts which are the distinguishing characteristics.

145B Breast, H&E, human
This is a slide of lactating mammary gland and should be examined closely. There are two key features that dinsinguish lactating mammary gland from its lookalike, thyroid: anastamosing glands and excretory ducts. Be sure you can identifying both in this slide. The ducts are stratified cuboidal just like in sweat glands, to which they are homologous but unlike sweat glands, these ducts can be quite large in diameter. Note also the lobular organization with clear CT septae separating the lobules. The glands are full of milk secretions which in a histological preparation looks just like the colloid of thyroid gland.

145C Mammary gland, lactating monkey
This is another slide of lactating mammary. Be sure that you can identifying anastamosing glands. The excretory ducts are more difficult to identify because the epithelium is rather more flattened than usual.
 

146 Nipple, MA, human
This slide shows a stratified squamous epithelium, underlying dense irregular CT. Below this is a loose connective tissue layer. Most of the lactiferous ducts will be found in the loose CT. Some slides show the ducts in the dense CT. Some sebaceous glands can be found just under the keratinized stratified squamous epithelium.

R,R,&K pages 702-703, Atlas plates 119, 120
1. Amnion

141A Uterus, pregnant, human
You will need to refer to the text and atlas for this slide. The chorionic villi are the islands of tissue composed of loose CT. They are lined by two cell layers; the outer layer is composed of synciotrophoblasts, the inner layer of cytotrophoblasts. They are almost all secondary villi because they have not been invaded yet by placental vasculature. The chorionic plate is to the left of the slide, the basal plate to the right.
 

141B Chorionic villi, placenta, human
These are 3° villi because of the presence of vasculature within them. Other than that, there seems to not be a lot to identify in this slide.

141D Placenta, H&E, human
There is a wide range of cuts for this tissue. This description is of slide 44 in this group. The slide orientation has maternal side at the top with a large cut of myometrium. There are regions of highly cellular tissue with relatively large cells. These are the stratum basale and the large cells are the decidual cells. In the chorionic villi, two identifiably different cell layers are easily distinguished in the transverse sections.
 

 
141C Placenta, human
This is a good, easy to understand slide. It contains just about nothing but 3° chorionic villi. The two cell layers that line the villi in an early placenta are not so easily seen as in the previous slides but can be seen in some regions. RBCs are easily identified by their cherry red color.

2. Arteries and veins contain two muscle layers

4. Amnion epithel around the tube.