Follicle-stimulating hormone
ID: follicle-stimulating-hormone
Follicle-stimulating hormone is a glycoprotein gonadotropin released by gonadotrophs in the anterior pituitary. It supports ovarian follicle growth and acts on granulosa cells in the ovary and Sertoli cells in the testis. Its effects depend on target-cell receptors, not solely on the amount of circulating hormone.[ref]
Anatomy and Physiology 2e by J. Gordon Betts and others. §17.3, pituitary hormone summary and follicular growth
[ref]A 1997 experiment disrupted the gene encoding the hormone's FSH beta subunit, producing mice deficient in follicle-stimulating hormone. Female mice were infertile, with follicle development blocked before antral follicle formation. Males remained fertile despite smaller testes.[ref]
Follicle stimulating hormone is required for ovarian follicle maturation but not male fertility by T. R. Kumar and others. Abstract, targeted deficiency and contrasting reproductive outcomes
The contrast separates several outcomes that a single word like “fertility” can obscure. It demonstrates that loss of the same hormonal signal can affect ovarian development, testicular size and successful reproduction differently in this mouse model. Those endpoints must be measured separately rather than inferred from one another.
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