LH response to GnRH

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Luteinizing hormone response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone

Normal LH levels are:

• Children: < 2.0 IU/ml
• Male: 0.9 to 10.6 IU/ml
• Female; follicular: 1.1 to 11.1 IU/ml
• Female; mid-cycle: 17.5 to 72.9 IU/ml
• Female; luteal; 0.4 to 15.1 IU/ml
• Female; post menopausal: 6.8 to 46.6 IU/ml

Note: IU/ml = international units per milliliter.

• An excess LH response suggests primary gonadal failure (the problem is within the ovaries or testes).
• A reduced LH response suggests hypothalamic or pituitary disease.
• A gonadotropin deficiency can be present at birth as a congenital or hereditary disorder.
• Kallmann's syndrome is a rare congenital disease characterized by gonadotropin deficiency caused by GnRH deficiency.
• Acquired defects of GnRH production are more common (hyperprolactinemia or amenorrhea may be caused by inhibition of GnRH release, possibly due to increased hypothalamic dopamine or prolactin).
• Anorexia nervosa and starvation inhibit GnRH release.
• A gonadotropin deficiency may be a relatively early problem in patients with large pituitary adenomas (tumors).
• A gonadotropin deficiency also occurs in patients with polyglandular endocrine deficiency (an autoimmune disorders ) and in people with hemochromatosis.

Review Date: 08/08/2005
Reviewed By: Sharon Roseanne Thompason, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Fellow, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.