Serum LH and FSH levels following intravenous injection of a gonadotrophin releasing principle in normal and gonadectomized adult male rats treated with oestradiol-17beta or 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone.

Effect of intravenous administration of a synthetic gonadotrophin releasing factor (GnRF) on circulating LH and FSH concentrations was investigated in normal and gonadectomized, adult male rats injected subcutaneously each day during seven days with various doses of oestradiol-17beta or 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone in sesame oil. Higher increase in serum LH and FSH levels subsequent to intravenously administered GnRF was observed in castrated control animals than in intact control animals, though this increment was not of significant nature for serum FSH. Pre-treatment of normal and gonadectomized rats with oestradiol-17beta resulted in an augmented response of serum LH and FSH concentrations to GnRF iv. Pre-treatment of normal and gonadectomized rats with 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone diminished serum LH and FSH response following administration of the same amount of GnRF. For these steroids to affect the response pattern of serum LH and FSH to GnRF iv, higher doses were required in normal than in gonadectomized animals. The data indicate that oestrogen and androgen may act at different sites in the male hypothalamic-pituitary axis with respect to regulation of pituitary gonadotrophins.