Serum estradiol but not gonadotropin levels decrease acutely after insulin-induced hypoglycemia in cycling women

Although corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) acutely suppresses gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion in animal models, its effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in humans is not well defined. To further evaluate the acute effects of adrenal axis activation on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in humans, we employed a model of insulin-induced hypoglycemia to stimulate endogenous CRH secretion in eight cycling women. Serum samples were obtained immediately before and 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, and 120 min following iv insulin (0.15 U/kg) or saline injection. To ensure that the degree of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activation in our subjects was similar to that observed in severely ill patients with hypogonadotropism, serum cortisol (F) levels were also measured in a group of acutely ill patients selected to have hypogonadotropism. All women experienced symptomatic hypoglycemia after insulin injection. Differences between serum F levels in hypoglycemic vs. control sessions were evident at 30 min (P < 0.01) and maximum at 120 min (P < 0.0001) after insulin injection. Serum estradiol levels were significantly lower following hypoglycemia than during control sessions (P < 0.001). In contrast, serum LH and FSH levels were not significantly different between control and hypoglycemic sessions. Peak serum F levels in these hypoglycemic women were similar to F levels in critically ill patients with hypogonadotropism. These results demonstrate that stress and/or hypoglycemia can acutely decrease circulating estradiol levels. In addition, these data suggest that endogenous CRH does not play a major role in acute suppression of GnRH (over 2 h) in humans. Further studies are required to identify longer term effects of CRH on GnRH secretion which may be present in hypothalamic amenorrhea or hypogonadotropic hypogonadism of critical illness.