Regulation of pulsatile gonadotropin secretion in female reproductive pathophysiology

J. D. Veldhuis, W. S. Evans, M. L. Johnson, L. A. Kolp

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Recent exciting developments in our understanding of control mechanisms in reproductive neuroendocrinology have fostered several significant new insights into the physiology of the normal human menstrual cycle, the mode of in vivo secretion of LH, the importance of biological and immunological LH activity, the regulation of the hypothalamic pulse generator by sex steroid hormones, and the control of gonadotropin production by GnRH. Important refinements in methodological techniques have also enhanced our concepts in neuroendocrine reproductive pathophysiology. Here, we will review one powerful analytical tool, deconvolution analysis, which allows a clinician and investigator to determine actual in vivo LH secretory rates and LH half-lives in individual subjects under specified treatment conditions (PNAS 84:7686-7690, 1987). Quantitative deconvolution unravels the plasma LH concentration profile into its constituent secretion and clearance components. Such studies have been applied to the normal human menstrual cycle and revealed that the LH secretory signal is subject to exquisite temporal regulation throughout the normal human menstrual cycle with menstrual stage-dependent changes in maximal LH secretory rate, LH secretory burst duration, the mass of LH secreted per burst, and the number of significant secretory events per 24 hr. This regulation of the secretory signal is specific, since the endogenous metabolic clearance rate for LH and its production rate do not vary.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)365-374
Number of pages10
JournalNew Trends in Gynaecology and Obstetrics
Volume7
Issue number3-4
StatePublished - 1991

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Regulation of pulsatile gonadotropin secretion in female reproductive pathophysiology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this