Increased blood LH and testosterone after administration of prostaglandin F2alpha in bulls.

Two types of experiments were conducted to determine the relationship of changes in blood luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone in bulls given prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha). Episodic surges of LH and testosterone occurred in tandem, apparently at random intervals, on the average once during the 8-hr period after bulls were given saline. In contrast, after sc injection of 20 mg PGF2alpha, blood serum testosterone increased synchronously to a peak within 90 minutes four-fold greater than pre-injection values, and the testosterone surges were prolonged about three-fold compared to those in controls. Each of the PGF2alpha-induced surges of testosterone was preceded by a surge of blood serum LH which persisted for about 45 minutes and peaked at about 3 ng/ml. In a second experiment, PGF2alpha was infused (iv, 0.2 mg/min) for 20 hr; blood plasma testosterone increased from 7.0+/-0.6 to 16.0+/-1.5 ng/ml within 2.5 hr and remained near this peak for 10 hr. Then testosterone gradually declined to about 9 ng/ml at the conclusion of the 20-hr infusion. These changes in testosterone were paralleled by similar changes in blood plasma LH, although LH declined 3 hr earlier than testosterone. Random episodic peaks of blood plasma LH and testosterone typical of untreated bulls resumed within 8 hr after conclusion of PGF2alpha infusion. In both experiments, the surge of testosterone after PGF2alpha was preceded by increased blood LH. We conclude that increased LH after administration of PGF2alpha probably caused the increased testosterone. However the mechanisms of these actions of PGF2alpha remain to be determined.