Circannual and seasonal variations in plasma luteinizing hormone levels of ovariectomized ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis).

Plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were determined at monthly intervals in intact and ovariectomized squirrels maintained in a constant 14L:10D photoperiod at a temperature of 23 +/- 2 degrees C. LH was undetectable (less than 0.9 ng/ml) in plasma of intact females at all times of year. Females ovariectomized (OVX) at 9.5 months of age in March showed substantial increases in plasma LH in May and June but LH was undetectable between July and November. Females ovariectomized at 13 months of age in July first manifested detectable LH levels the following January and February (6-7 months post-ovariectomy). Very few adult females trapped in May and ovariectomized in August had detectable LH levels within 2 months of ovariectomy; however, females ovariectomized the following February had detectable LH titers 1 month later. Long-term studies of individual OVX squirrels indicated peak LH levels between March and June, 1980, relatively low or undetectable titers between August and December and elevated LH levels between January and March, 1981. The results are suggestive of a circannual rhythm of LH secretion which appears restricted to one season of the year and occurs independently of steroid feedback from the ovaries; ovarian steroids only modulate the levels of plasma LH during the brief annual period of hypothalamo-hypophysial activity. We suggest that onset and termination of LH release are mediated by central nervous system circannual clocks.