Plasma concentration profiles of gonadotrophins and testosterone in the adult boar.

Follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and testosterone were measured by radioimmunoassay in plasma samples collected at 15 min intervals for a 12 h period in eight adult boars. Pulse increases in follicle stimulating hormone concentrations varied from one to four between individual boars while those of luteinizing hormone ranged from zero to four. The index of hormone production, provided by calculation of the area under the curve, was 0.5 +/- 0.51 microgram/L (means +/- S.D.) for follicle stimulating hormone and 0.46 +/- 0.11 microgram/L (means +/- S.D.) for luteinizing hormone. A significant correlation between changes in follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone values was seen in only two boars. The mean plasma testosterone concentration was 7.43 +/- 1.58 nM/L (means +/- S.D.). An identified increase in testosterone values occurred once in the 12 h period for six of the boars but was not noted in the other two animals. Although increases in testosterone could be identified with a previous pulse of luteinizing hormone, not all luteinizing hormone pulses were followed by an elevation in testosterone. A significant correlation between luteinizing hormone and testosterone was present in three of the eight animals. Follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone were measured in samples similarly collected two weeks after castration in the same eight boars. The number of pulses of follicle stimulating hormone increased significantly (p less than 0.05) and ranged from 3 to 7/12 h. The index of production of 1.8 +/- 1.15 micrograms/L (mean +/- S.D.) also represented a significant increase (p less than 0.05) over precastration follicle stimulating hormone values.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)