Follicular fluid is a liquid which fills the
follicular antrum and surrounds the
ovum
The egg cell, or ovum (plural ova), is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete i ...
in an
ovarian follicle
An ovarian follicle is a roughly spheroid cellular aggregation set found in the ovaries. It secretes hormones that influence stages of the menstrual cycle. At the time of puberty, women have approximately 200,000 to 300,000 follicles, each with ...
. This fluid is rich in
hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid (; abbreviated HA; conjugate base hyaluronate), also called hyaluronan, is an anionic, nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan distributed widely throughout connective, epithelial, and neural tissues. It is unique among glycosaminoglyca ...
, and is used in a modified
intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) called
physiological ICSI (PICSI), semi-viscous and yellow in colour.
Its components come mainly from
granulosa cells
A granulosa cell or follicular cell is a somatic cell of the sex cord that is closely associated with the developing female gamete (called an oocyte or egg) in the ovary of mammals.
Structure and function
In the primordial ovarian follicle, and ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Diagram at med.mun.ca
Mammal female reproductive system
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