Weight and circadian luteinizing hormone secretory pattern in anorexia nervosa.

In previous studies we had established that emaciated women with active primary anorexia nervosa (AN) had immature 24-hr luteinizing hormone (LH) secretory patterns. In this study, we have examined the circadian LH patterns of eight women with AN who had partially or fully recovered their ideal weights. Three of the women were studied before and after weight gain and five women were studied only after the appearance of binge-eating and consequent weight gain (by history). Our findings are: (1) The adult (mature) circadian LH secretory pattern was not present in women who had partially or totally achieved ideal weight but who otherwise remained symptomatic; (2) those women who showed both weight gain and normalization of LH pattern were also symptomatically improved in other respects; (3) the degree of immaturity of pattern did not correlate reliably with the duration of illness, the degree of fatness, or the extent of deficit from ideal weight; (4) the mode of illness onset and the type of secretory pattern were not related; and (5) the return of menses did not show a simple relationship to weight, fatness, or maturity of LH pattern.