PHAR 303 Lecture 20: The Reproductive System
Document Summary
There is a whole field of reproductive toxicology that has evolved throughout the years. During gestation, all of the eggs a woman will ever produce is produced in the third trimester. There is a block in the first meiotic division that is lifted as the follicles develop. Then there is a second meiotic division which allows for the release of the egg and fertilization. Fsh and lh are very important in driving this process. The primordial follicle (egg with one layer of granulosa cells around it) becomes a primary follicle when the number of cell layers around the egg goes up from one. The driver from primordial to primary is not pituitary hormones, but everything after that is pituitary hormones: we don"t know what that driver is. The secondary follicle develops into a graphian follicle; the egg will be ejected at ovulation.