Effects of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone on the ultrastructure of gonadotrophs in the foetus of the rhesus monkey near term.

Eighty micrograms of synthetic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LH-RH) were infused systemically into male and female foetuses of rhesus monkeys near term. Control animals were given infusions of saline. Morphologically, the control gonadotrophs varied from cells filled with secretory granules to highly stimulated cells with numerous cytoplasmic vesicles. In the LH-RH-treated animals, however, many cells showed depletion of secretory granules, dilatation of the endoplasmic reticulum and condensed nuclear chromatin. It is concluded, therefore, that foetal gonadotrophs can respond to administration of synthetic LH-RH.