[Ultrastructural characteristics of the microcirculatory bed of the human adrenal cortex in prenatal ontogenesis].

By means of transmissive electron microscopy the adrenals have been studied in 25 human embryos and fetuses at the age of 6-36 weeks. Certain stages have been revealed in formation of the adrenal cortex microcirculatory bed. In 6-7-week-old embryos (period of diffuse protocapillary bed) endothelial structure and mesenchymal cells, surrounding the adrenal anlage, resemble one another. A distinguished feature of the endothelium is regularly revealed desmosomes and large vacuoles, often found in cytoplasm of endotheliocytes. In 8-12-week-old fetuses (period when the organospecific microcirculatory bed is forming) sinusoid capillaries differentiate in the internal zone of the adrenal cortex; in endothelium fenestrae, "hatches", "locks" are revealed, the capillary basal membrane is formed. During subsequent time of the intrauterine development perfection of the microcirculatory pathways in the adrenals takes place, the arteriolar link of the subcapsular layer including. By the time of birth morphofunctional maturity of the microcirculatory bed in the adrenal cortex is noted.