The LH FSH
estradiol and
progesterone responses to acute stimulation with
LH-RH were studied in 12 normal women with ovulatory cycles (4 in the initial follicular phase, 4 in the mid-follicular phase and 4 in the late follicular phase) and in two castrated women, two under
hormonal contraception, two with ovarian
amenorrhea, twelve with central
amenorrhea of no detectable origin (6 with normal and 6 with low basal gonadotrophins), eleven anovulatory patients with pseudomenstruation, two with
anorexia nervosa, and two with pituitary
amenorrhea. Each woman received a rapid i.v. injection of 100 microgram synthetic
LH-RH at 9:00 a.m. Serum levels of LH, FSH,
estradiol and
progesterone were determined by radioimmunoassay in samples collected before and 60, 120, 240 and 480 minutes after injection. The findings were : 1) A significant rise in
estradiol and
progesterone levels, in addition to LH and FSH elevation, in normal women; 2) A lack of ovarian
steroid response in the castrated women and in ovarian amenorrheas, which suggests that the source of
steroid response to stimulation is not extragonadal; 3) Significant differences in the responses of the four
hormones to
LH-RH in the women with central
amenorrhea in comparison with the normal group with great variability of results; the
steroid response in the presence of a positive LH response might correlate with the severity and/or prognosis of the disorder, a point deserving further study; 4) In anovulatory women with pseudomenstruation, LH responses for the most part normal, and particularly,
progesterone responses.