Female Reproductive Flashcards
Q1: What type of tissue is the germinal epithelium?
The surface of the ovary is covered by a single layer of cuboidal to squamous epithelium. It is continuous with the mesothelium that covers the mesovarium. The terminology “germinal epithelium” in fact is a misnomer, carried over from the past when it was incorrectly thought that it gave rise to germ cells during development.
Q2: What are the defining features of each stage of follicular development?
Primordial follicles: oocyte is surrounded by one layer of squamous follicular cells
Primary follicles: oocyte surrounded by a single or multiple layers of cuboidal follicular cells
Secondary follicles: cavities filled with liquor folliculi appear between the granule cell layers, which coalesce to form one large cavity, the antrum. The thecal folliculi, the stromal tissue immediately surrounding the follicle, differentiates into internal and external layers; theca interna and externa, respectively.
Mature (Graafian) follicles: Larger than late secondary follicle (~2.5 cm in humans), oocyte is displaced to one side, by follicle cells of corona radiata and rest on the cumulus oophorus.
Atretic follicles: Follicles in various stages of degeneration.
Q3: What is the role of the theca interna and the theca externa?
Theca externa consists mostly of vascular connective tissue and helps expel the ovum during ovulation. Theca interna contains steroid-secreting cuboidal cells.
Q4: What is the name of the granulosa cells after ovulation?
Granulosa lutein cells of the corpus luteum. They produce progesterone.
Q5: What is the role of the corpus luteum?
It produces progesterone (granulosa lutein cells) and estrogen (theca lutein cells). Corpus luteum of menstruation degenerates after 14 days, corpus luteum of pregnancy degenerates after about 6 months.
Q6 &Q7: What are these two cell types (oviduct epithelial cells)? What are their functions?
Ciliated columnar cells participating in egg and sperm transport and non-ciliated mucus secreting peg cells. The apical domain of the peg cells may protrude over the ciliated cells. These bulges contain nutrients for the ovum and mucus that helps transporting the ovum and hinders bacterial access to peritoneal cavity.
Q8: Are the terms myometrium and stratum basale synonymous?
No. The stratum basale is part of endometrium, not myometrium. It is retained during menstruation, unlike the stratum functionale.
Q9: What are the differences in the depth of the stratum functionale in each stage?
Increases from the shortest to the tallest in order of menstrual, proliferative, and secretory phase.
Q10: What are the differences in the uterine glands during each phase?
Glands are short in the stratum basale, glands lengthen and remain relatively straight in the proliferative state driven mostly by estrogen, and glands grow and become highly coiled in the secretory phase under the influence of estrogen.
Q11: What is the medical significance of the cervical epithelial junction?
Common site for cervical cancer. Incidence of cancer has been greatly reduced by using exfoliate cytology, called the Pap smear (FYI: after its developer George Papanicolaou). Cells are lightly scraped from the cervix, and abnormal cells suggestive of precancerous change are detected microscopically.
Q12: Do you observe a muscularis mucosa (vagina)?
The mucosa does not contain a muscle layer, a distinguishing feature from the distal portion of the esophagus. The muscular layer often has indistinct inner circular and outer longitudinal layers.
Q13: Do you observe glands in the vagina?
The lamina propria of vagina does not have glands. Glycogen from the epithelial cells is metabolized by bacteria to lactic acid that lowers the pH and provides protection.
