LHRH and analogs: contraceptive and therapeutic considerations

This paper reviews the developments of the LHRH analogs (agonists and antagonists) in terms of their conceptive, contraceptive and therapeutic utility. It draws upon the mass of data derived from pre-clinical and clinical studies, in both sexes, reinforcing, in particular, the application of the natural LHRH in treating a spectrum of infertile conditions. This profertility approach is contrasted by utilization of the paradoxical antireproductive effect of the agonists as contraceptives, and as a novel therapy for precocious puberty, endometriosis and hormone-dependent tumors, such as prostatic and mammary carcinoma. The LHRH antagonists, by virtue of their singular anti-LHRH properties, are presently being evaluated as antifertility agents, and for the above steroid-dependent pathologies.