Abstract
We have studied the ratio of bioactive to immunoactive (B/I) luteinizing hormone (LH) in eight girls with gonadal dysgenesis before and after estrogen replacement therapy with low doses of oral ethinyl estradiol. The estrogen suppression of bioactive LH, as measured by a rat interstitial cell testosterone assay (RICT), was more profound than the suppression of radioimmuno-assayable (RIA) LH in five girls who had elevated basal serum LH levels: The B/I before therapy was significantly higher (p<0.005) at 2.78±0.12 (n=6) than after three months of 10 μg of ethinyl estradiol (1.44±0.11, n=5), and after three subsequent months of 20 μg of ethinyl estradiol (0.60±0.08, n=3). In two younger patients without elevated basal RIA LH, however, the B/I was low. Estradiol 17-β in concentrations of 0.1, 5 and 10 ng/ml had no effect on testosterone production in the RICT assay.
These data suggest that estrogen affects the qualitative form as well as the quantitative amount of LH secreted, possibly via a structural change in the LH molecule, or by inhibition of another substance with LH-like bioactivity, or by other mechanisms as yet undefined.
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Lucky, A., Rosenfield, R. & Rebar, R. 11 DISPARITY BETWEEN BIOACTIVE AND IMMNOACTIVE LUTEINIZING HORMONE IN GIRLS WITH GONADAL DYSGENESIS: EFFECT OF ESTROGEN TREATMENT. Pediatr Res 12 (Suppl 4), 365 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00016
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00016