Ovulation: Evolving Scientific and Clinical Concepts presents the proceedings of the International Symposium on Ovulation: Evolving Scientic and Clinical Concepts held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Internationally recognized experts provide new insights in the most recent developments in the area of mammalian ovulation, incorporating basic scientific and clinical concepts in the process. Topics include an overview of 37 years of research on ovulation, the follicle, the gonadotropin surge, the intraovarian steroid microenvironment, putative periovulatory intraovarian regulators and messengers, and clinical frontiers. More than 80 illustrations round out the text. The book is essential for all reproductive endocrinologists and Ob-Gyns.

1. An Overview of 37 Years of Research on Ovulation.- I. The Follicle.- 2. Histologic Definition of Ovarian Follicles and Analysis of Folliculogenesis Disruptions Due to Gene Mutations.- 3. The Graafian Follicle: A Functional Definition.- 4. The Critical Granulosa Cell Complement: Lessons from the Cyclin D2 Knockout.- 5. Ovarian Teratocarcinogenesis: A Consequence of Abnormal Regulation of Meiosis.- 6. The Role of the Oocyte in Ovulation.- II. The Gonadotropin Surge.- 7. The Physiology of the Human Midcycle Gonadotropin Surge.- 8. Duration, Amplitude, and Specificity of the Midcycle Gonadotropin Surge in Nonhuman Primates.- 9. The Many Faces of FSH.- III. The Intraovarian Steroid Microenvironment.- 10. Progesterone: Lessons from the Progesterone Receptor Knockout.- 11. Intraovarian Control of Ovulation: Lessons from Steroid Ablation/Replacement in Monkeys.- IV. Putative Periovulatory Intraovarian Regulators.- 12. The Ovarian Renin Angiotensin System Viewed Through Ovarian Perfusion.- 13. Ovarian Oxytocin: Periovulatory Production and Effects.- 14. Neurotrophins and the Ovulatory Process: A Role for NFG and trkA?.- 15. Cooperative Roles for the Angiopoietins and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Ovarian Angiogenesis.- 16. Visualization of the Periovulatory Follicle: Morphological and Vascular Events.- 17. Inhibins, Activins, and Estrogens: Roles in the Ovulatory Sequence.- 18. Prostaglandins and Ovulation: From Indomethacin to PGHS-2 Knockout.- V. Putative Periovulatory Intraovarian Messengers/Facilitators.- 19. White Blood Cells: Active Participants in the Ovulatory Cascade.- 20. Ovarian Nitric Oxide: A Modulator of Ovulation and Oocyte Maturation.- 21. Oxidants and Antioxidants in Follicle/Oocyte Function.- 22. Periovulatory Changes in Ovarian Metalloproteinases and Tissue Inhibitors of Metalloproteinases (TIMPS) Following Indomethacin Treatment.- 23. Expression and Function of CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Proteins (C/EBPs) in the Ovary.- VI. Clinical Frontiers.- 24. Designer Gonadotropins and Receptors: The Prospect of Recombinant Technology.- 25. Triggering Ovulation with GnRH Analogs.- 26. Closing Comments: Ovulation from 1672 to 1998.- Author Index.