Female reproductive physiology/infertility Flashcards
Female produces fertilizable eggs
Menstrual cycle
Formation of oocytes
Oogenesis
Morphological development of the ovarian follicles
Folliculogenesis
If hormone production becomes disrupted?
Gamete production will not occur normally and infertility will occur
In mammals, where does the urogenital system originate from?
Intermediate mesoderm
In the female embryo, the wolffian duct regresses resulting in?
The differentiation of the müllarian duct
What happens when the Müllerian duct differentiates?
It differentiates in a cranial to caudal direction, into the oviduct, uterus, cervix, and upper one-third of the vagina
What are the major organs of the female reproductive system?
- Genital tract
- Ovaries
- Pituitary
Female genital tract
Composed of the vagina, cervix, uterus, and oviduct.
Structural anatomy of the genital tract
A protective outer aerosol layer, wall of smooth muscle and an inner mucosal layer.
The entrance into the reproductive tract, a muscular tube that connects the uterus to the exterior
Vagina
The lower portion of the uterus where it joins the top of the vagina?
Cervix
How is the cervix anatomically different from the rest of the genital tract?
It lacks a myometrial layer and is lined with mucus secreting epithelium.
-protects entrance of vaginal bacteria into uterus.
Cervical mucus during follicular phase
Watery: under the influence of ovarian estrogen.
-allows entrance of sperm into the uterus during ovulation.
Cervical mucus during luteal phase?
Thick: due to luteal progesterone
-inhibits entrance of any materials from the vagina
What happens to the cervix during pregnancy?
In the presence of high concentrations of progesterone from the corpus luteum, a cervical plug is created to protect the fetus from vaginal bacterium.
Thick walled, pear shaped organ that is the site of embryo implantation?
Uterus
Muscular layer of the uterus, that is more complex than in the vagina or oviduct?
Myometrium
Mucosal layer of the uterus, that is more complex than in the vagina or oviduct?
Endometrium
What is primarily responsible for the expulsion of the fetus during parturition?
The uterine myometrium
What is composed of the cuboidal to columnar epithelium that is supported by broad, highly cellular storm all and connective tissue layer containing many simple tubular glands?
The uterine edometrium
During the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle what steroid is predominately produced and causes the endometrium to proliferate?
Estrogen
During the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle what steroid is predominately influences the endometrium to thicken by the formation of new blood vessels?
Progesterone
The layer adjacent to the myometrium and is not as responsive as the other two layers to the ovarian steroids?
Stratum Basalis
-permanent resident of the uterus and isn’t shed during menses
The intermediate layer that is characterized by a stroma that has a spongy appearance?
Stratum spongiosum
A thinner layer than the others and is associated with compacted stromal layer?
Stratum compactum
What are the two layers that are shed during menstruation, also known as the functional layers of the uterine endometrium, and what are they jointly called?
The spongiosum and compactum layers together make up the: stratum functionalis
The uterine artery is made up of multiple branches that pass through the myometrium and immediately divide into two distinct types of arterial patterns:
Straight arteries and spiral arteries
What arteries supply blood to the basalis layer?
Straight arteries
Larger and thicker arteries that enter the stratum functionalis and form an arterial plexis?
Spiral arteries
What happens to the spiral arteries if pregnancy does not occur?
A drop in progesterone causes the spiral arteries to constrict, and the restriction of blood flow causes the shedding of the functionalis during menses.
What stimulates the spiral arteries to grow during the cycle?
Estrogen and progesterone
What are paired and connect the uterus to an ovary?
Oviduct or Fallopian tubes
What is the purpose of the oviduct/fallopian tubes?
The transport of sperm to the oocyte, and the oocyte to the sperm.
The ovarian ends of the oviduct/fallopian tube that are cone-shaped and flare out over the ovary? This is responsible for ovum pickup after ovulation?
Fimbriated infundibulum or fimbria.
Next to the fimbria, and the site of fertilization?
Oviductal ampulla
What is the final short segment of the oviduct that connects it to the uterus?
Isthmus
The site of oogenesis, folliculogenesis, corpora luteal formation and luteolysis.
The Ovary
What are the two major structures of the ovary?
Follicle and corpus luteal
Ovarian stroma is denser where?
The periphery or outer ovarian cortex.
-where the follicles and corpus luteum are located.
What’s the center of the ovarian stroma called?
Inner ovarian medulla
-contains location of major ovarian blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and nerves that enter the ovary through the ovarian hilus.
What is the outermost layer of the ovarian cortex that is composed of a thin but tough, dense protective coating made up of a network of connective tissue.
-devoid of all cell types
Tunica albuginea
The outside of the ovary is enveloped by a serous membrane, a single cell layer of mostly cuboidal epithelium.
-continuous with the peritoneum.
Germinal epithelium
What’s the primary purpose of the germinal epithelium?
To transport fluid and ions by surface pinocytosis.
-Not associated with oogenesis like the name suggests.
What are the cellular components of the follicle:
- Thecal cells
- Granulosa cells
- Oocyte
Follicles function as both an endocrine gland, and the site of oogenesis.
What are the primary steroid productions of the follicle?
Estrogens of the menstrual cycle, particularly 17B-estradiol, the most biologically active estrogen in the human.
The theca and granulosa cells have a cooperative relationship in the production of estrogen, what is it called?
The two cell theory
How does the two cell theory work?
The thecal layer contains cytoplasmic enzymes to produce androgens and very little estrogen. These androgens are passed on the granulosa cells, which convert them to estrogen.
What is the second major structure of the ovary, although it develops from the follicle?
The Corpus Luteum (CL)
What is the change that the follicle goes through just prior to the LH surge and ovulation?
Luteinization
What happens to the follicle during the luteinization process?
The granulosa cells begin to undergo hypertrophy and numerous lipid vacuoles form in their cytoplasm. This increases even more at the LH surge, which also modifies the steroidogenic capacity of the granulosa cell from an estrogen-producing cell to a progesterone plus estrogen producing cell.
What type of cells is the CL composed of?
Luteal cells, fibroblasts(connective tissues), endothelial cells (vascular cells) and resident leukocytes.
