Glucose metabolism is necessary to generate sufficient material for follicle expansion, and an increased glucose requirement is necessary for the proliferation and differentiation of CCs and oocyte development. Because of the hydrophobicity of glucose, GCs absorbed glucose through glucose transporters (GLUTs) [
38]. The main pathways for glucose metabolism in cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) include glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) and the polyol pathway [
39]. Glycolysis in human GCs is enhanced from primordial to primary follicle [
40]. In the absence of phosphofructokinase, energy production in the oocyte relies on pyruvate provided by GCs, and the oocyte synchronously regulates the high expression of phosphofructokinase in GCs [
41]. Prior to follicular maturity, the production of pyruvate and lactate in GCs increases due to high energy consumption [
42]. Pyruvate deprivation leads to early follicular dysgenesis [
43]. Lactate may play a signaling molecular role in the follicular-luteal transition [
44], and a lack of lactate causes follicular dysplasia [
45]. There are two main functions of PPP in the COC. The first is the production of NADPH for the operation of the antioxidant system, including the combination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to reduce cellular oxidation levels [
42,
46]. The second function is the generation of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) to synthesize nucleotides and nucleic acids. In addition, PPP is involved in the meiotic induction mechanism of oocytes [
47], and inhibition of PPP can reduce the ratio of MII oocytes, demonstrating that PPP is a key regulator of the nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of oocytes [
48]. Additional glucose enters the HBP to provide a substrate for hyaluronic acid production during extracellular matrix expansion [
49,
50]. Finally, a small tiny fraction of the absorbed glucose is used by the GCs to produce sorbitol and fructose via the polyol pathway [
51]. Sorbitol, a byproduct of the polyol pathway, can increase superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, which enhances ROS levels and results in follicular dysmaturity and ovarian aging [
52,
53]. However, the presence of sorbitol or fructose in GCs and oocytes has not yet been established.