Kidney - renal medulla (40x objective lens)

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This image shows a region of the medulla containing several thin segments of Henle's loops and two collecting ducts. The walls of the collecting ducts are a simple low columnar epithelium. Note that the cells have a characteristic rounded apical surface that bulges into the lumen of the tubule. The thin segments are lined by simple squamous epithelium. The epithelial cells of the thin segment are not as flattened as endothelial cells and they have oval nuclei. Also present are straight capillaries, called the the vasa recta, that form the medullary capillary plexus, which is intimately associated with the thin tubules. The blood vessels are lined by flattened endothelial cells and contain eosinophilic erythrocytes.

Stain = H&E.

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