Folliculogenesis Essay

Infertility is the fundamental lacking of the ability to conceive a baby, and both men and women can have this problem. Dr. Clark, our guest speaker in class pointed out that approximately 30% of men and women are infertile, while 25% of infertility cannot be explain by science yet. Because of that, infertility is no longer considered as a lifestyle problem but a disease instead. According to Dr. Clark, one of the options for the infertility patients today is the use of stem cell therapies to treat infertility, and one of the recent popular stem cell therapies is reproductive cloning. Reproduction cloning is a process to “produce” a next generation of “you” through somatic cell nuclear transfer. In my paper, I will argue that

Charlene Forest is an associate professor in the Biology department at Brooklyn College, who dedicates her research in to trying to understand the mechanism behind the process of fertilization in algae, as well as what controls expression of gamete-specific genes. To do so, she must understand how sperm and egg gametes first recognize and then fuse with each other. Thus, in order to find what causes the fusion of these gametes, Forest’s lab is cloning genes that prevent the fusion of sperm and egg gametes. She hopes that her research on the fertilization process in algae will help understand the fertilization process in other organisms, particularly humans.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a hormonal disorder which effects around five million women of reproductive age in the United States (activebeat.co). The ovaries and adrenal glands excrete abnormally high levels of male hormones which prevents the regular release of an egg, causing many fluid filled sacs, or cysts, to form on the ovaries. Several types of cysts can be found on the ovaries of someone diagnosed with PCOS, the most common being those developed during the menstrual cycle, functional cysts. Follicular cysts are a subcategory of functional cysts formed by the overgrown follicle resulting from an unreleased egg. When a follicle ruptures following the release of an egg, the follicle may reseal and cause fluid buildup, resulting in a corpus luteum cyst; these cysts may enlarge considerably, causing pain, bleeding, or twisting of the ovary (PCOS Awareness Association). Some cysts resolve themselves in one to three months while others grow to be painfully large and require surgery to remove.

These changes are typically brought on by hormonal fluxes that control the different phases of the cycle in order to ovulate a mature oocyte. The average menstrual cycle is 28 days in length and progresses through four distinct phases, each with its own regulatory hormone. The phases and their associated days are as follows: menstruation, or the early follicular phase (days 1–4), late follicular phase (days 5–11), periovulation (days 12–15) and the luteal phase (days 16–28). 1 The major hormonal secretion sites are the hypothalamus, which secretes gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), the pituitary, which secretes follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), and the ovaries, which secrete estrogens and progesterone. Of the three types of estrogen involved in the menstrual cycle, estradiol, estrone and estriol, estradiol is considered the most potent and is known as E1.2 In lieu of discussing the many hormonal fluctuations of a typical menstrual cycle, a diagram has been included to display the oscillations of the hormones described

with each one containing an immature ovum. Through cyclic changes, 1 or 2 of these follicles become mature, releasing an oocyte, and thus resulting in fertilization or menstruation (Stanfield, 2012, p.646). However, with polycystic ovarian syndrome these cyclic changes are effected. Polycystic ovarian syndrome is defined by many symptoms, however, numerous cysts on the ovaries and chronic anovulation from hormone imbalances, normally characterize it.

In a normal menses, these different hormones go through cycles of highs and lows, but in polycystic ovary syndrome, they often remain constant during the course of the cycle. A follicle enlarges but an egg is not released, so it turns into a cyst. The cells around the cyst force out weak male hormones, which the body converts into estrogen, a female hormone. The response system in the brain senses the increased levels of estrogen, assumes that the ovaries are operating properly, and that a mature egg is prepared to be released. The pituitary lessens the discharge of FSH and sends out the LH, which usually would cause the mature egg to separate from the follicle. However, there is no mature egg, so the follicle forms a cyst. The process is repetitive, and cycle

The hormones that the ovaries produce are estrogen and progesterone, which are mandatory for healthy reproduction. Also the hormone androgen plays a role in the regulation of normal ovarian function. Androgen is the male hormone but it is very important in a woman’s reproductive health. Androgen becomes a problem in the woman when too much is produced and stops ovulation. A woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have for the rest of her life. At the time of ovulation, the egg develops and is called a follicle. In those follicles, a small amount of fluid is starting to gather. If the egg goes into full maturity and ovulation happens, the follicle will become enlarged. Each month during the normal ovarian cycle some follicles will begin to develop but never make it to ovulation.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/interactive/frs_it.html In this interactive diagram/demonstration we have pictured the vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, and the ovaries. When you scroll over a particular part of the picture it will give you the name, what it is, and the function of that part. For instance if you scrolled over the Fallopian Tubes it will tell you that it is a thin soft tube that connects the Uterus to the Ovaries. During ovulation the ovaries will release an egg/s and they will travel through the fallopian tube to the uterus. Essentially it’s the road way. I find this valuable because you can tell someone something about their body all day long but it’s nothing like seeing what it is and how it works for you to

Women experience changes throughout their life. One such change is perimenopause, that can last for over 30 years between pre-menopause, peri-menopause, and post-menopause. Menopause is part of the women natural process that focuses on signs and symptoms of treatment relief. In pre-menopause stage, the women menses are regular cycle. “The perimenopause, that period from the first changes in ovarian function (which can be identified only in the laboratory) to final menstruation range from two to eight years” (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). At this time, the ovary might produce an egg or not. The ovaries fluctuate in the production of estrogen and progesterone hormones monthly, without ovulating. “Peri-menopause, ovulation, and menses occur irregularly

The objective of this study was to study the correlation between embryo quality and follicle numbers in ewes by determining how the number of follicles in the ovaries of individual sheep vary and to see if there is a connection between a single superovulatory dose of equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG) and the average number of follicles per day. The rationale given is that the reason for variability could be a number of things, such as: superovulation correlating to the number of small follicles (Gonzalez-Bulnes et al., 2000), the existence/lack of corpora lutea (Gonzalez-Bulnes et al., 2002), or the presence of a dominant follicle (Rubianes et al., 1995; Lopez-Sebastian et al., 1999; Gonzalez-Bulnes et al., 2002) at the beginning or duration

and the FSH stimulates these follicles to secrete oestrogens. Once oestrogen levels reach a certain

biased between the male and the female reproductive biology. The article focuses on the role of

The biological causes that can possibly imperative process of healthy conception and both female and male sexes I menopause for women, and stability for either sex. furthermore effects such as vitamin deficiencies can also cause impaired conception. Some infertility problems happen from birth. The regular process of ovulation and fertilization if they are not in sync, can cause infertility problems. The reasons for infertility involve one or both sexes. For males these can include abnormal sperm production and/or function such a thing that defects, health problems, and even due to prior surgeries performed on the inguinal region. When there is a presence of an large fans in the testicles of email, I can also affect the blood flow and sperm,

After reaching maturation, the follicle undergoes ovulation; an event stimulated by a surge in luteinising hormone release from the anterior pituitary gland (orange line). The remnant follicle (now termed the corpus luteum) secretes progesterone (red line), which maintains the endometrial lining and causes it to enter the luteal phase. With triphasic COC’s, three incremental doses (phases 1-3) of progestogen (blue line) with (pink line)/without (dashed pink line) a phase 2 dose increase in oestrogen are delivered over 21 days. This is followed by a 7-day placebo period, which induces menstruation (placebo). Exogenous delivery of hormones in this way achieves contraception with significantly lower doses of progestogen, whilst crudely mimicking endogenous increases in oestrogen and progesterone. As such, it was hypothesised that the triphasic regimen would afford various benefits over monophasic COC’s.

Fertilization is the outcome of the joining of a sperm cell and an egg cell to form what is called a diploid cell. A diploid cell is a cell that contains two sets of chromosomes that were inherited from each parent cell. The cell will eventually develop into another human being. It is a process that is a result of a series of events which happens in sexual reproduction. The hormones of the male and female body are what trigger the beginning of this process. Other than FHS, GnRH, and LH, the other hormones that help regulate the female cycle is estrogen and progesterone. The proliferate phase is the first half of a female’s cycle in which the mucous membrane of the uterine wall thickens. The FSH causes ovaries to secrete estrogen and the follicle of the uterus to fully develop. Ovulation is caused by the hypothalamus secreting large amounts of GnRH by the increase