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Importance of Hormones
In order to understand the causes of infertility
and the role modern infertility treatment plays in assisting
conception, it is useful to look at the natural process - a woman's
ovulatory cycle and the production of sperm in the male - and the
hormones that play a major role in those processes.
The gonadotropins are hormones that primarily affect the ovaries
and the testes. They regulate the development and hormone-secreting
functions of these organs and contribute to the production of sperm
in the male and to the development and maturation of eggs (oocytes)
in the female. Three gonadotropins are essential to reproduction:
human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH), human luteinizing
hormone (hLH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). FSH and LH
are secreted by the pituitary gland situated beneath the brain (see
illustration 1). Their secretion is controlled by another hormone,
the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) produced by the
hypothalamus. hCG is primarily produced by the placenta following
successful implantation, and plays a role in maintaining
pregnancy.
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