Ontogeny of pituitary-gonadal interactions: current advances and controversies.

The different compartments of the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary, and gonads, probably start their embryonic development independently, and become fully interactive as the last link o f their maturation. The developing hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis offers a good model for studies on the mechanisms of regulation of fetal hormonal systems. It is evident that fetal hormonal functions are not the same as those of the adult on a smaller scale, but that there are fundamental differences between the fetus and adult in basic features of the mechanisms o f reproductive hormone action.