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Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Demonstrating a Linear Relationship Between Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Luteinizing Hormone in Kidney Cortex Extracts
Published on: January 22, 2020
'Spare' Luteinizing Hormone Receptors: Facts and Fiction
Livio Casarini1, Daniele Santi2, Manuela Simoni3
1Unit of Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, NOCSAE, via P. Giardini 1355, 41126 Modena, Italy; Center for Genomic Research, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, via G. Campi 287, 41125 Modena, Italy.
Abstract:
It is common opinion that maximal activation of luteinizing hormone (LH)-dependent steroidogenic signal occurs at <1% of human LH/choriogonadotropin (hCG) receptor (LHCGR) occupancy. This effect would be a consequence of an excess of receptors expressed on the surface of theca cells, resulting in a pool of LHCGRs remaining unbound (spare). This concept was borrowed from historical pharmacological studies, when discrepancies between ligand-receptor binding and dose-response curves of cAMP were evaluated by treating mouse or rat Leydig cells with hCG in vitro. Recent findings demonstrated the specificity of LH- and hCG-dependent effects, receptor heterodimerization, and differing behaviors of rodent versus human gonadotropin-responsive cells, which may help to revise the 'spare' LHCGRs concept applied to human ovarian physiology and assisted reproduction.
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