OESTRONE, OESTRADIOL AND TESTOSTERONE IN NORMAL AND HYPOGONADAL MEN FOLLOWING LH-RH OR HCG STIMULATION

Abstract

Estrone, estradiol-17.beta. and testosterone in serum were measured during a LH-RH (luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone) infusion test and a Leydig cell function test with HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in healthy men and in patients with primary or secondary hypogonadism. Following infusion of LH-RH increases of LH (luteinizing hormone, + 112%), estradiol (+62%) and testosterone (+51%) were observed in normal men, while estrone remained unchanged. Of the patients only those with Klinefelter''s syndrome showed a significant increase in testosterone and estradiol after LH-RH infusion. During the Leydig cell function test estradiol testosterone exhibited a largely parallel pattern under normal and pathological conditions and in subjects with experimental hypogonadism. Augmentations of plasma estrone were usually smaller than those for estradiol.