Ovarian Cycle

Abstract

The ovarian cycle is the recurring pattern of hormonal events, and associated changes to reproductive tissues, that governs ovulation, conception, and zygotic implantation in mammalian females. Primate ovarian cycles follow a general template, whereby the hormones estradiol, luteinizing hormone (LH), and progesterone regulate the physiology of gamete maturation, ovulation, and conception, respectively. In addition to their effects on the reproductive tissues, these hormones have important influences on sexual behavior.

Reproductive endocrinology of wild female woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) during puberty, ovarian cyclicity, and pregnancy

“…However, given that the LH surge is typically preceded by elevated levels of estrogens and is followed by a rise in progesterone, excreted estrogen and progesterone metabolites in feces can also be used to estimate the timing of ovulation (Wasser et al, 1988). Catarrhine primates (i.e., cercopithecines and hominoids) typically exhibit a surge in excreted estrogen metabolites in urine and feces before ovulation followed by an increase in progesterone metabolite concentrations after ovulation (Thompson, 2017;Wasser et al, 1988). By contrast, profiles of excreted hormones in platyrrhines show elevated concentrations of progesterone metabolites shortly after the LH surge and with delayed excretion of estrogen metabolites in urine and feces that varies from taxon to taxon (Ziegler et al, 1993(Ziegler et al, , 1996(Ziegler et al, 1997(Ziegler et al, , 2009.…”