Effects of estrogen and progesterone on vaginal epithelial cells

The vaginal epithelium is responsive to the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, and displays predictable changes in cell populations over the course of the reproductive cycle as a result of changes in the plasma concentrations of these hormones.

Answer the following question to test your understanding of the effects of estrogen and progesterone on vaginal epithelial cells….

Q. A vaginal smear prepared from a female rat that had been pre-treated with estrogen would show a predominance of which of the following cell types: