Pulsatile secretion of LH in the ram: a re-evaluation using a discrete deconvolution analysis

The purpose of the present experiment was to characterize LH secretion pulsatility in rams by analysing the instantaneous secretion rate profile obtained by deconvoluting the plasma concentration profile. Plasma LH concentration profiles were obtained by collecting blood samples every 6 min for 24 h during two different sessions separated by an interval of 15 days. Individual kinetic parameters of ovine LH (oLH) were determined following i.v. injection of oLH. By deconvoluting the plasma concentration profile, it was shown that a pulse has an effective duration of only 20.41 +/- 7.69 (S.D.) min whereas the mean duration estimated from measurement of plasma concentrations was 61.00 +/- 15.16 min. The number of pulses was similar before and after deconvolution (7.80 +/- 1.99 vs 9.70 +/- 3.44 pulses/24 h respectively). Using deconvolution the calculated production rate was 2.26 +/- 0.94 micrograms/kg per 24 h, about 50% of this production being located in the pulses. Statistical analysis of pulsatility revealed that pulse occurrence was a nonperiodic event and that the amplitude of LH pulses and the associated amount of LH released were correlated with the duration of the preceding quiescence period, but had no statistically significant influence on the duration of the following quiescence period.