The ovarian androgen-producing cells: a 2001 perspective.

Abstract

The androgen-producing cells in the postnatal mammalian ovary are located in the interstitial compartment of the ovary. The most important types of androgen-producing interstitial cells are the cells in the theca interna and the cells of the secondary interstitial glands. There has been some confusion in recent years regarding the terminology used to describe the ovarian androgen-producing cells, namely that “theca-interstitial” cells are somehow different from “theca” cells. In fact, these are the same cells. The name “theca-interstitial” was used by Erickson et al. [1] to describe the theca cells as one of the four androgen-producing cell types in the interstitial compartment of the ovary along with primary interstitial cells which are present only during embryonic development, secondary interstitial gland cells, and steroidogenic cells located in the hilar region of the ovary. For the sake of clarity and according to current convention, the term theca cell will be used throughout this review to refer to cells in the theca interna of the ovarian follicle.