[Gonadotropic function of the pituitary gland in patients with intersexualism and gonadal dysgenesis]

Radioimmunoassay was used to study the blood content of LH and FSH in 116 patients aged 1 to 36 years with abnormalities of sexual development (false male hermafroditism, false female hermafroditism, true hermafroditism and gonadal dysgenesis). With a view of control the content of gonadotropins was measured in 92 subjects (33 females and 59 males) of the same age. The data were evaluated in accordance with the age and genetic sex of patients. It was shown that in health, the concentration of LH and FSH reflected the process of puberty, permanently growing until 18 years, whereas in patients, the age-related time course was less consistent. Unidirectional changes in the hormonal level (towards its rise) were common to all the forms of abnormal sexual development. In all the examinees, the pattern of changes in gonadotropic activity reflected the features of the formation of the neuroendocrine mechanisms by which the sexual system is controlled in ontogenesis.