Failure of a serotonergic receptor-blocking drug to change the twenty-four-hour luteinizing hormone secretory pattern in women.

The 24-h LH secretory pattern in women during the early follicular phase is characterized by inhibition during the early sleep period. Methysergide maleate was administered to six normal women to test the hypothesis that the effect of sleep on LH secretion is due to serotonergic mechanisms. The results demonstrated no change in the sleep effect on LH secretion after drug administration. The 4-h average deviation after sleep onset from the 24-h mean was -27.7% for the control studies and -25.5% after methysergide maleate. The data suggest tht serotonergic pathways are not critically involved in the control of the 24-h LH secretory program in women.