Ovulation and the transport and viability of ova and sperm in the female genital tract.

Abstract

Ovulation is the sine qua non of reproduction. It is a sharply demarked event, like birth or death; hence cyclic sexual phenomena in the maternal organism are most conveniently separated into those occurring before and those occurring after ovulation.By ovulation is meant the freeing of the ovum from the ovary and its expulsion into the body cavity, or into the ovarian bursa. Fertilization takes place in the body cavity, or, more usually, after the egg has been engulfed by the infundibulum of the oviduct and started on its journey to the uterus or the exterior. This is the typical procedure. However, in some fishes, the ova are fertilized within the follicle, the wall of which becomes modified into a nutritive organ, a kind of womb, in which the embryos develop for a time. In such cases ovulation and birth may be said to be synchronous. In other forms (Zoarces, e.g.) the eggs are shed but are retained within the ovarian capsule. The spent follicles, homologues of the corpora lutea of higher forms, undergo hypertrophy and become highly secretory, producing pabulum for the embryonic fish. The nutritive function of these "corpora lutea" is thus exemplified in a literal and diagrammatic way. These cases and many others that could be cited are exceptional but from a theoretical standpoint highly instructive, representing as they do primitive conditions which are postulated as theories when applied to man and other mammals (cf. Kohn in "Synkainogenese," 1916).

Current Status of the Hypothesis that Mammalian Ovulation is Comparable to an Inflammatory Reaction

“…The first major review of literature on ovulation was written by Carl Hartman in 1932 [1]. This early account pointed out that ovulation is a "sine qua non" of the reproductive process-an indispensable event for propagation of a species.…”

Effects of Zinc (Zn) on the Growth of the Progeny from the Formation of Foetal Sperm through Parturition: A Review

“…Using its anti-polyspermy properties, Zn controls the sperm that enters the oocytes during this time for freshly fertilised eggs. Other sperm cells that are present close to the fertilised egg may also be decapitated by Zn [115]. For the purpose of preventing pregnancy caused by polyspermy, this procedure is known as the zinc shield [116].…”