Overview of ovarian follicular development: Considerations for the toxicologist

✍ Scribed by Anne N. Hirshfield

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 88 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0893-6692
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2280(1997)29:1<10::aid-em2>3.0.co;2-h

✦ Synopsis

Folliculogenesis is the lengthy process that results in mate stage of the developmental process. Because the production of a species-specific, highly consis-the ovary can respond quickly and completely to tent number of follicles, which ripen during each loss of homeostasis over the short term, damage reproductive cycle at precisely the appropriate time from toxic insult may not be readily apparent. Howfor ovulation. Certain features of folliculogenesis ever, long-range fertility may nevertheless be immay have special implications for toxicologists paired. The finite size of the follicular pool and the studying effects of environmental mutagens on oo-absence of feedback regulatory steps during the cytes. Such features include the constantly changing early stages of follicular growth render the ovary geometry of the ovarian follicle, the great excess of incapable of restoring the status quo among small developing follicles (most of which will degenerate and medium-sized follicles. This will eventually rerather than ovulate), the exponential nature of follic-sult in loss of fine control over the number of follicles ular growth, the acceleration of cell proliferation that ripen and the regularity of the reproductive cyas follicular size increases, and the location of the cles and could reduce the overall duration of the principal feedback regulatory step at the penulti-fertile life span.