HUMAN PITUITARY FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE: DISTRIBUTION, PLASMA CLEARANCE AND URINARY EXCRETION AS DETERMINED BY RADIOIMMUNOASSAY

Abstract

SUMMARY The volume of distribution, plasma clearance and urinary recovery of human follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) after intravenous injection has been estimated in healthy men. A human FSH-anti FSH radioimmunoassay was used which, though not completely specific, discriminates against luteinizing hormone (LH) by at least 10:1 in terms of i.u. The half-life in the circulation was 24–38 min in three subjects who received the same dose. Urinary recovery, when expressed as a percentage of the injected dose, was 36·8 ± 7·7 (s.d.)% in nine experiments with three different doses in six subjects. The time-course and percentage recovery were similar for all doses used.