Effects of a potent antagonist to gonadotropin-releasing hormone on male rats: luteinizing hormone is suppressed more than follicle-stimulating hormone.

Previous work with female rats showed that serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) are suppressed by gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists less than are levels of serum luteinizing hormone (LH), suggesting a lesser dependency of FSH on GnRH stimulation. The differential regulation of LH and FSH is known to have some aspects that are sexually asymmetrical, and it was of interest to see if males also show differential gonadotropin suppressibility after injection of an antagonist to GnRH. Male rats were prepared for serial sampling 4 wk after castration. After a blood sample was removed at Time Zero, [Ac-3-Pro1, pF-D-Phe2, -D-Trp3,6]-GnRH (Antag) was injected subcutaneously in oil; doses were 0, 4, 20, 100, 500, and 2500 micrograms. Blood was sampled at 2, 5, 12, 24 and 36 h postinjection. All doses above 4 micrograms had lowered LH levels by 2 h, and LH remained suppressed for 12 to 24 h at the three higher doses. By contrast, serum FSH was unaffected by any dose at 5 h, and was only marginally suppressed by the highest doses thereafter. As in females, therefore, FSH secretion in male rats appears not to be as dependent on GnRH as is LH secretion.