Immunofluorescence study of LH-RH producing cells in the human fetal hypothalamus

The use of antibodies to synthetic LH-RH has enabled the detection by immunofluorescence of hypothalamic LH-RH producing cells in the human fetus. The perikarya of these cells are located in the pericommissural and peroptic regions, in the lamina terminalis and in the premamillary region. Reactive axons occur in the median eminence. The first LH-RH producing cells are seen as early as nine weeks of gestation. The specificity of immunocytological reaction has been controlled.