Increased plasma LH in manic-depressive illness: evidence of a state-independent abnormality

Basal plasma luteinising hormone concentrations and the LH responses to LH-releasing hormone injection were higher in 11 young men after recovery from mania than in 15 control subjects. Since plasma concentrations of testosterone and sex hormone binding globulin were similar in the recovered manic compared with the control subjects, the increased LH response to LHRH is likely to have been due to the priming effect of LHRH consequent on an increased release of LHRH into hypophysial portal vessel blood. Abnormal control of LHRH, and thereby LH release, is a state-independent feature in male patients with mania and may be a useful trait marker for this disorder.