Dose-related inhibition of acute luteinizing hormone response during luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist treatment for uterine leiomyoma.

Twenty-six women with uterine leiomyoma were treated for 6 months with subcutaneous injections of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist buserelin. Eight women received 200 micrograms daily, eight women received 350 micrograms daily, and 10 women after initial administration of 200 micrograms every 8 hours for 7 days, 500 micrograms of buserelin was administered daily. After 1, 3, and 6 months of treatment, serum luteinizing hormone levels were measured before and 4 and 8 hours after the administration of buserelin. The area under the curve for acute luteinizing-hormone response was then individually calculated. The inhibition of acute luteinizing hormone response during luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist treatment was proportional to the dosage used and remained constant during the treatment period.