in this part of the MOOC we're talking about the sex steroid steroids that steroid hormones that
are involved in the ovaries the testes and the whole reproductive system what I need to just kind
of say is that in biology we kind of treat this as a binary extremes of male and female that's
probably not the case in most people or in any any life form so forgive me if if this seems kind of
simple but it's the easiest way to present it and I know and you know that it's it's a little more
complicated than what we're gonna talk about in this particular MOOC so we're going to start with
the ovaries and the ovaries are in the pelvis and they're just under the pelvic brim which is kind
of right here there's the pelvic brim and here is the ovary you've gone over the fallopian tubes and
uterus and all of the other reproductive organs and dr. Alsup's reproductive MOOC but here again
is the fimbria of the fallopian tube or uterine tube and here's the uterine tube going to the
uterus the ovary is suspended from the body wall by the suspensory ligament of the ovary and that
contains the ovarian artery vein within it which are the blood supply for the ovary so the ovary
is another endocrine organ that's mod R that is within the hypothalamus anterior pituitary
cascade so the hypothalamus secretes i've found this secretes ganadotropen releasing hormone
or GnRH as it is abbreviated and it's creats GnRH into the anterior pituitary the anterior
pituitary makes two hormones FSH I'm sorry the anterior pituitary makes two hormones luteinizing
hormone and follicle stimulating hormone these hormones are secreted then from the anterior
pituitary and act on the ovary the ovary in turn out into circulation secretes estrogen
progesterone relaxin and inhibin the anterior pituitary gland secretes luteinizing hormone
and follicle stimulating hormone luteinizing hormone stimulates the formation of the corpus
luteum and the corpus luteum is the yellow body it's formed after ovulation luteinizing hormone
also stimulates the corpus luteum to secrete progesterone and estrogen follicle stimulating
hormone when it acts on the ovary it stimulates primary follicle development and the primary
follicles are here so there's a primary follicle there's a primary follicle and the primary
follicles secrete estrogen so luteinizing hormone stimulates the formation and maintenance of the
corpus luteum and the corpus luteum secretes progesterone and estrogen follicle stimulating
hormone stimulates the primary follicles and they secrete estrogen so estrogen and progesterone
that are secreted by the ovaries have functions throughout the body estrogen is responsible for
female secondary sex characteristics so that includes breast development and the deposition
of adipose tissue in a kind of a particularly feminine sort of way and it supports the female
reproductive cycle progesterone is very important for maintaining the uterus during pregnancy
the other two hormones that are secreted by the ovaries are relaxing and inhibit relaxant
is secreted at birth or during the birth process and helps loosen up the pubic symphysis to allow
the pelvis to kind of open up just a little bit to allow the baby to exit a little bit
more comfortably it is important for dilating the cervix to allow baby to be born and inhibin
secreted by the ovary inhibits in him and inhibits the release of follicle stimulating
hormone from the pituitary so in summary what I'd like you to understand about the ovary is
what hypothalamic releasing factor is related to ovarian function what two hormones are related or
released from the anterior pituitary that act on the ovary and what are the actions
of these hormones so think about the different parts of the ovary they act upon and then what
four hormones are made in the ovary and what do are their functions once they're secreted
and in circulation once you have a grasp on these concepts then you're be ready for the assessment