LRH administration in increasing frequency schedules in the hypogonadotropic male patient

Abstract

In search for an optimal induction of puberty, LRH was administered iv in three different consecutive schedules, each lasting for 4 weeks in three hypogonadotropic boys: Results: Schedule 1 elicited a clear increase of the FSH level, while LH and T (Testosterone) increased slightly. On the presumed physiologic schedule 2 (Santen and Bardin, 1973) LH, FSH and T increased into the normal adult range.Only 1 patient showed LH pulses strictly coincident with the exogenous LRH pulses. On schedule 3 gonadotropin and T levels remained high or even further increased. There was no evidence of desensitization of the gonadotrophic cells. These data suggest that: 1. The increase of gonadotropins during early puberty (FSH first, followed by LH) may be the result of increasing LRH stimulation with a pulse frequency lower than presumed physiologic in adults. 2. Pulsatile LRH treatment with a frequency higher than "physiologic" does not result necessarily in desensitization of the gonadotrophic cells, in contrast to observations in the female rhesus monkey (Wildt et al., 1981).