Explains how to recognise the cylindrical gallbladder epithelium on an H&E slide, starting with the function of the single layer of tall cells in absorbing water from bile and the H&E staining pattern. It then lists the features to look for: branching mucosal folds, tall cells with oval basal nuclei, a faint brush border, and the absence of goblet cells and submucosa. It ends with a comparison to intestinal columnar epithelium and cross-references to theory topics.
Inside: 1 section · 1 min
Topic 90 of 127 in the MU Sofia syllabus for Cytology (Dental Medicine, Year 1). The free AceMed note covers it in 1 section, about 120 words (1 min of reading).
In this note
Introduction
Introduction
This slide shows the cylindrical (columnar) cell shape. The gallbladder is lined by a single layer of tall cells that absorb water from bile.
Stain
H&E: nuclei blue-purple, cytoplasm pink.
How to recognise it
The mucosa forms many branching folds that project into the lumen.
One row of tall cells, clearly taller than they are wide.
Oval nuclei, all at about the same level near the base of the cells.
A faint brush border of microvilli at the free surface.
No goblet cells and no submucosa: the lamina propria lies directly on a thin muscle layer.
Don't confuse it with: the intestine, whose columnar epithelium has goblet cells and villi.
Theory: topics 8–9 (cell morphology) and 37 (simple surface epithelia).
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