Experimental contributions to the study of the embryology of the vagina

BACKGROUND: Acién’s hypothesis, deduced from patients with malformations of the female genital tract, especially those with renal agenesis and ipsilateral blind hemivagina, affirms the embryology of the human vagina as deriving from the Wolffian ducts and the Müllerian tubercle and could explain the embryological origin of all the female genital malformations reported. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis in rats. METHODS: Twenty-five pregnant rats were used to analyse female embryos (64) from day 15 (stage indifferent) to day 20 postcoitum (vagina completely formed). We performed transverse and longitudinal sections of embryos, haematoxylin–eosin tinction and immunohistochemical staining using markers specific to Wolffian derivatives. We also analysed the presence of these markers in the vagina of four adult rats. RESULTS: The Müller ducts converge until they fuse into one tube, but caudally they diverge and finally they fuse with the ‘urogenital sinus bulbs’ that are actually the distal portion of the Wolffian ducts according to the immunohistochemical marking with GZ1 and GZ2. The Müllerian tubercle is observed between those elements. Then, the immunohistochemical staining can be seen all along the completely formed vagina, which is also observed in the vagina of the adult rat. CONCLUSION: We prove the participation of Müller tubercle and Wolffian ducts in the formation of the vagina in rats, so we confirm experimentally Acién’s hypothesis about the human vagina embryology.