Pharm Reproductive and Genitourinary Study Guide Notes
Female Reproductive Tract
- Consists of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina. Approximately every 28
days, a hormonal cycle occurs that stimulates an ovum in one of the ovaries to mature
into a follicle and then rupture, releasing an ovum.
- The pituitary gland produces hormones that govern this cycle
- It produces follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH, during the first part of the cycle, which
is responsible for the development of the follicle and release of estrogen.
- The pituitary gland produces luteinizing hormone of LH, which causes the follicle to
swell and split open mid cycle, releasing the ovum.
- The empty follicle that remains becomes a corpus luteum and secretes estrogen and
progesterone upon release of the ovum
- The role of estrogen during the first part of the cycle is to stimulate the endometrium to
thicken, so it can provide a need for fertilized ovum if pregnancy occurs.
- The role of estrogen and progesterone during the last part of the cycle is to continue
building up the endometrium
- If pregnancy does not occur, the corpus luteum shrinks, stops its production of estrogen
and progesterone, and sloughing of the endometrium occurs.
- This is menstruation, or menses. If pregnancy does occur, the developing embryo
and placenta produce the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone, or hCG, and helps
maintain the follicle so that it continues to produce estrogen and progesterone.
- Oxytocin is the hormone that stimulates uterine contractions during labor and delivery
Male Reproductive Tract
- The male reproductive tract consists of the testes, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal
vesicles, prostate gland, and penis.
- Sperm develops in the testes and then moves to the epididymis, where they mature
- After maturation, the sperm moves through the vas deferens into its ampulla, where it is
stored
- During ejaculation, the seminal vesicles release fluid that mixes with the sperm as it
moves through the prostate gland into the urethra.
- Follicle stimulating hormone, or FSH, and luteinizing hormone of LH in men are as
important to the production of sperm as they are to the development of an ovumcontaining follicle in females.
- FSH initiates the development of sperm in the testes, and LH regulates the production of
testosterone by specialized cells in the testes. It’s the influence of testosterone in the
epididymis that helps immature sperm mature
- Exposure of testosterone to the enzyme 5-alpha reductase in the prostate, adrenal gland,
and testes produces dihydrotestosterone.
- Dihydrotestosterone is stronger than testosterone, and facilitates the evolution and
maintenance of secondary sex characteristics.