AGE CHANGES AND LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GLANDULAR APPARATUS OF THE VAGINAL VESTIBULE

Objective - study of the age and regional variability of the minor glands of the vaginal vestibule. Materials and methods. The glands of the vaginal vestibule vestibule were studied in 72 girls and women of different ages (from newborn to 75 years) without the pathology of the urogenital organs. On the total preparations of the the vaginal vestibule, the glands were stained using Sinelnikov’s method. Histological sections 5-7 μm thick were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and van Gieson’s method. Results. Minor glands of the vaginal vestibule were completely formed by the time of infant’s birth. In comparison with the newborn girls, at the age of 22-35 years the total number of glands, their length, width and the secretory portion area increased. Beginning with the second period of the mature age up to the senile age, inclusively, the involutive changes of the glands occurred. The presence of a gradient of parameters of the glands of the vaginal vestibule was detected: their numbers and sizes increased in the anterior-posterior direction. The level of variability rised during postnatal ontogenesis up to the reproductive age. Conclusions. The glandular apparatus of the vaginal vestibule was found to reach the maximal development in the first period of adulthood. Later on, the morphometric parameters of the glandular structures gradually decrease. Gland numbers, sizes and shapes are individually variable.

vaginal vestibule, minor glands, postnatal ontogenesis, total gland preparations