The Developmental Origin of Cervical and Vaginal Epithelium and Their Clinical Consequences A Systematic Review Olaf Reich, MD1 and Helga Fritsch, MD2 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz; and 2Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria h Abstract Key Words: uterovaginal anlagen, histogenesis, ectopy, Objective. Studies on the development of the embry- vaginal adenosis, congenital transformation zone ological and fetal development of the cervix and the va- gina are rare and mostly go back to the first decades of tudies on the development of the human utero- the last century. The aims of this review were to present Svaginal anlagen (UVA) mostly go back to the first the latest knowledge concerning the developmental ori- Y gin of cervical and vaginal epithelium and to point out decades of the last century [1 6]. Altogether they are new results in the context of different clinical findings. rare and subjective. Objective diagnostic morphological Materials and Methods. Relevant studies published methods such as immunohistochemistry were not avail- between 1910 and 2013 were identified via PubMed, able at that time. However, the older studies are still the MEDLINE, OVID, Web of Science, and EMBASE. The refer- basis for current embryological and clinical and patho- ence lists of retrieved articles were reviewed to locate logical textbooks [7Y10]. In the last decade, new studies additional articles. Each abstract was reviewed, and the appropriate publications were obtained and reviewed of UVA including objective immunohistochemical anal- as well. A total of 33 articles and 8 book chapters were ysis were published. The aims of this study were to re- selected for citation in this review. view the major theories for the developmental origin of Results. New objective findings clearly show that cervical and vaginal epithelium, to define the recent human prenatal epithelialization of the cervix and vagina knowledge, and to point out new results in the context results in 3 morphogenetically determined units: (i) the of different clinical findings. Mu¨ llerian columnar epithelium of the endocervix, (ii) the Mu¨ llerian squamous epithelium of the ectocervix and the upper vagina, and (iii) the vaginal squamous epitheli- STUDY SELECTION um of the lower vagina. A review of the literature was undertaken for articles Conclusions. These results are of high clinical relevance and may provide new insight into the histogenesis of published between 1965 and August 31, 2013. Relevant ectopy, vaginal adenosis, and the congenital transforma- studies were identified via PubMed, MEDLINE, OVID, tion zone. They should be added to the explanations Web of Science, and EMBASE. The reference lists of in gynecological, colposcopical, and gynecopathological retrieved articles were reviewed to locate additional ar- h textbooks. ticles. Each abstract was reviewed, and the appropriate publications were obtained and reviewed as well. A total of 33 articles and 8 book chapters were selected for ci- Reprint requests to: Olaf Reich, MD, Department of Obstetrics & Gy- necology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 14, A-8036 Graz, tation in this review. Austria. E-mail: [email protected] The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest. RESULTS Ó 2014, American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology In the past, 4 major theories for the developmental origin Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, Volume 18, Number 4, 2014, 00Y00 of vaginal and cervical epithelium were published [11]: Copyright © 2014 American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. 2 & REICH AND FRITSCH The ‘‘urogenital sinus (UGS) and Mu¨llerian duct (MD) 2. The original squamous epithelium of the cervix is of origin theory’’ hypothesized that the squamous epithe- vaginal Mu¨ llerian origin. In contrast, the columnar lium of the upper two-thirds of the vagina (Mu¨llerian cervical epithelium is of uterine Mu¨llerian origin and vagina) and the ectocervix develops from the caudal includes columnar reserve cells with the plasticity to portion of the MDs and that the lower portion (sinus transform into squamous epithelium. vagina) develops from the UGS [4, 8, 12Y18]. 3. In late fetal life, cervical glands migrate from the In the ‘‘Mu¨ llerian duct (MD) and Wolffian duct (WD) epithelial surface of the cervical canal into the un- origin theory,’’ the WDs contribute to the squamous derlying stroma. They spread caudally toward the epithelium of the vagina [13, 19Y22]. extern cervical os. The original squamocolumnar The ‘‘Mu¨ llerian duct (MD) origin theory’’ proposes that junction (SCJ) is clearly detectable from week 24 the WDs play a role in the downward growth of the onward and is situated within the cervical canal Mu¨llerian-derived vagina and/or in the formation of during all stages of fetal life. In the newborn, this the hymen but do not contribute to the squamous border tends to grow caudally toward the external vaginal epithelium [23, 24]. cervical os. The ‘‘urogenital sinus (UGS) origin’’ theory suggests that the entire squamous epithelium of the cervix and va- DISCUSSION gina are originated solely from the UGS of endodermic origin [5, 7, 25Y27]. In this view, the squamous epi- Vaginal Epithelialization thelium derived from the UGS grows upward and re- After delivery, the vaginal mucosa is a stratified squa- places the original columnar epithelium of mesodermal mous epithelium composed of distinct layers. The recent MD origin. study by Fritsch et al. [32] obtained objective informa- In the last decade, functional morphological studies tion on the development of epithelial structures of the concerning UVA development models published by vagina based on immunohistochemical findings at de- Kurita et al. [11, 28Y31] focused on mice and mice fined embryological and fetal stages. In contrast, all of models. They showed that during mice development, the the older theories concerning the developmental origin MDs undergo a morphogenetic transformation from of vaginal epithelium (UGS + MD origin theory; MD+ simple tubes into distinct organs and then differentiate WD origin theory; MD origin theory; UGS origin theo- to diverse epithelial cell types with a unique morphology ry) are based on subjective histologic observations. The in each anatomic region. Within this process, the tran- results by Fritsch et al. [32] confirm the ‘‘UGS + MD scription factor p63, induced by mesenchyme of the origin’’ theory of vaginal epithelialization, in which the vagina, cervix, and uterine corpus during development, upper two-thirds of the vagina (Mu¨ llerian vagina) de- was regarded to play a key role in the determination of velop from the caudal portion of the MDs and the lower epithelial cell fate. The authors supposed epithelial portion (sinus vagina) develops from the UGS. In the plasticity to be restricted to small groups of so-called light of these objective results, all older theories are ne- stem cells in cervix and uterus. gated. In particular, the common concept of an upward Recently, Fritsch et al. [32] reported histologic and growth of UGS squamous epithelium that replaces a immunohistochemical results based on nearly complete Mu¨ llerian columnar epithelium of the vagina up to the prenatal human stages of UVA. By application of anti- original SCJ [8, 9, 33, 34] seems to be defeated. bodies raised against various cytokeratins, progenitor The different origin of epithelialization of the upper cells, transcription factors, and smooth muscle actins as and lower vagina is important for the understanding well as antibodies indicating cell survival, angiogenesis, of vaginal carcinogenesis: The majority of squamous cell and mesenchymal origin, this study was able to char- carcinomas of the vagina develop through vaginal acterize the epithelial and mesenchymal structures at intraepithelial neoplasia triggered by transforming infec- defined embryological and fetal stages. Fritsch et al. [32] tion with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and report that: other HPV persistence risk factors. Clinically, it is well known that vaginal (pre)cancer occurs predominantly in 1. The most caudal vaginal epithelium is exclusively the upper one third of the vagina, while the middle and UGS epithelium derived; all the upper vaginal epi- lower thirds are involved in less than 10% [35]. This is thelium a converted or transformed vaginal Mu¨llerian probably due to the different vulnerabilities against high- epithelium. risk HPV of the vaginal Mu¨llerian squamous epithelium Copyright © 2014 American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Origin of Cervical and Vaginal Epithelium & 3 that is of mesodermal origin and the squamous epithe- plasticity to transform into squamous epithelium. These lium derived from the UGS that is of endodermal origin. different origins of original squamous epithelium and The dual mechanism of the epithelialization of the va- columnar epithelium of the cervix are important for gina is also consistent with the clinical compartment the concept of the cervical TZ and the understanding theory of the distal vagina [36]. of cervical carcinogenesis: The metaplastic squamous epithelium of the cervical TZ (uterine Mu¨ llerian origin) Histogenesis of Vaginal Adenosis is an important landmark because it is located where 90% of cervical (pre)cancerous lesions arise [37].