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This study investigated whether oestrogen receptors can be immunohistochemically detected in paraffin-embedded vaginal mucosa samples using monoclonal antibodies and whether the method would be suitable for the identification of vaginal cells in cytological smears. Samples of vaginal mucosa were obtained from living females and female corpses, as vaginal smears. For comparison purposes, resected prepuce samples and samples of postmortem male urethral mucosa were also investigated. Nuclear oestrogen receptors could be regularly detected in the basal, parabasal and deeper intermediate epithelium layers of freshly fixed vaginal mucosa but proved to be highly sensitive to autolytic changes. In the cytological smears obtained from living subjects, no oestrogen receptors were detectable. Oestrogen receptors were also detected in the basal epidermal cells of the male prepuce.