Epithelial-stromal Interactions in the Mouse Vagina Exposed Neonatally to Diethylstilbestrol

Background: In neonate mice exposed to diethylstilbestrol (neoDES), vaginal epithelium shows persistent proliferation and stratification even after ovariectomy. Tissue recombination studies suggest that neonatally-estrogenized vaginal stroma can induce vaginal epithelial hyperplasia depending on the stromal age. This study examined the proliferative effect of the vaginal stroma from 8-day-old mice treated with DES on the vaginal epithelia of 8-day-old and adult mice. Materials and Methods: Vaginal epithelium and stroma from 8-day-old and adult mice was recombined, and grafted to ovariectomized host mice. Results: The 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled cells in the epithelium and the number of epithelial cell layers were not significantly different between epithelia from 8-day-old and adult mice when combined with stroma from 8-day-old control mice. BrdU-labeled cells in the vaginal epithelia from both age groups combined with the stroma from 8-day-old neoDES mice exhibited higher values. The epithelium from neoDES adult mice had a lower percentage of BrdU-labeled cells. Conclusion: The stroma from 8-day-old neoDES mice induces epithelial cell proliferation, but lower stromal cell proliferation.