Follicular Fluid (of Tertiary Ovarian Follicle)
Liquor follicularis folliculi ovarici tertiarii
Read moreQuick Facts
Follicular fluid is an albuminous fluid in the follicular antrum of a vesicular ovarian follicle (Dorland, 2011).
Structure and/or Key Feature(s)
As granulosa cells increase in size and number, the follicles grow and become embedded deeper in the ovarian cortex. When the granulosa has reached a thickness of between 6 and 12 cell layers, fluid-filled spaces appear amongst the granulosa cells. This hyaluronan-rich fluid is called liquor folliculi and as it continues to accumulate, and the spaces coalesce, and a follicular antrum is formed. The follicle is then called a secondary follicle or antral follicle (Ross and Pawlina, 2006; Mescher, 2013).
Function
Follicular fluid provides an important microenvironment for the developing oocyte.
References
Dorland, W. (2011) Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 32nd edn. Philadelphia, USA: Elsevier Saunders.
Mescher, A. (2013) Junqueira's Basic Histology: Text and Atlas. 13th edn.: McGraw-Hill Education.
Ross, M. H. and Pawlina, W. (2006) Histology: A text and atlas. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
