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Corpus luteum
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The corpus luteum is a gland that does not last long. It forms inside the ovary right after ovulation, which is when the follicle opens and releases the mature egg, and it is built from the very cells the follicle left behind: the theca cells and the granulosa cells.
Its job is to make hormones, especially progesterone. It also makes inhibin A and estradiol. And it gets an enormous amount of blood: once mature, more flow per gram of tissue than any other organ in the body.
From that point on, there are two possible outcomes. If the egg is not fertilized, the corpus luteum stops making hormones within fourteen days of ovulation, and it shrinks until only a whitish scar remains on the ovary, the corpus albicans.
If there is a pregnancy, one hormone keeps it working and producing progesterone: human chorionic gonadotropin. Not forever: around week 12 the placenta has already taken over and the corpus luteum degenerates.
In brief
The corpus luteum is a temporary organ formed in the ovary after ovulation from the follicle's theca and granulosa cells.
A gland born with an expiration date.
Its main hormone is progesterone; it also secretes inhibin A and estradiol; once mature it receives more blood per unit of tissue than any other organ.
Without fertilization it stops secreting hormones within 14 days and degenerates into a scar, the corpus albicans.
In pregnancy, human chorionic gonadotropin sustains progesterone production; around week 12 the placenta takes over and the corpus luteum degenerates.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Abdomen and Pelvis, Ovary Corpus Luteum, StatPearlsPublished
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