Long-Term Administration of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone in Men with Idiopathic Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism

A Model for Studies of the Hormone's Physiologic Effects

  1. DANIEL I. SPRATT, M.D.;
  2. JOEL S. FINKELSTEIN, M.D.;
  3. LOUIS ST.L. O'DEA, M.B., B.Ch.;
  4. THOMAS M. BADGER, Ph.D.;
  5. P. NARASIMHA RAO, Ph.D.;
  6. JAN D. CAMPBELL, L.P.N.; and
  7. WILLIAM F. CROWLEY, Jr., M.D.
  1. Boston, Massachusetts

    Abstract

    The effect of long-term administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) for induction and maintenance of sexual maturation was characterized in 23 men with idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Twenty-two men achieved normal adult male serum testosterone concentrations (575 ± 33 ng/dL; p < 0.0001 compared with the baseline mean of 61 ± 6 ng/dL) that were sustained in 21 men for up to 36 months with bolus doses of GnRH varying from 25 to 300 ng/kg body weight administered every 2 hours. Pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion occurred in all 23 men, with mean levels of LH (14.7 ± 1.3 mlU/mL) and follicle-stimulating hormone (11.3 ± 1.3 mlU/mL) within or above the normal range for adult men. Mature sperm were observed in the ejaculates of 20 men, with counts ranging from less than 1 x 106 to 96 x 106/mL. Increasing responsiveness of the pituitary-gonadal axis to GnRH was shown in 6 men. Men with idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism present a useful model to study the onset and maintenance of reproductive function in men.

    Article and Author Information

    • ▸From the Reproductive Endocrine Unit and the Vincent Research Laboratories, Internal Medicine and Gynecology Services, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Boston, Massachusetts.

    • Grant support: in part by grants HD15788 and RR-1066 from the National Institutes of Health; and by the Vincent Memorial Fund.

    • ▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to William F. Crowley, Jr., M.D.; c/o Donnelly, Room 110, Reproductive Endocrinology Unit, Vincent 1, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fruit Street; Boston, MA 02114.

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