Sleep deprivation reduces LH secretion in men independently of melatonin

Melatonin affects gonadal function in non-primate mammals. Confirmatory data in man are not available. We assessed melatonin's acute effects on luteinizing hormone secretion in 17 normal men. We studied these men in conditions of sleep in the dark, and sleep deprivation in bright light, dim light, and bright light combined with a physiologically relevant infusion of melatonin, while measuring blood levels of immunoreactive LH every 20 min for 7 h. We compared overnight LH secretion, and LH pulse frequency, amplitude, length, interval and area under the curve using a modification of the PULSAR peak identification program, among the four treatments. Areas under the curve for peaks in all three conditions of sleep deprivation were lower than in normal sleep. The presence or absence of melatonin had no additional effect. We conclude that acute suppression of melatonin does not affect LH pulse parameters in normal man, but that sleep deprivation may reduce the amount of LH secreted per pulse.