Increased LH secretory response to LHRH after hypophyseal stalk-transection of monkeys

Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) will evoke large increases of circulating LH in all species tested except for the rhesus monkey. Indeed, in the present study we found that an intravenous injection of a relatively large dose of LHRH (20 micrograms) evoked only a small (2.2-fold) increase in plasma LH levels, as measured by the dispersed interstitial cell bioassay in 4 intact follicular phase monkeys. In contrast, 4 stalk-transected animals exhibited a significantly greater (19.9-fold) increase in plasma LH levels when treated with 20 micrograms of LHRH within 1 week after surgery. Qualitatively similar differences in responsiveness also existed between the two treatment groups with respect to FSH secretion. 2 stalk-transected monkeys treated with LHRH at weekly intervals for the first 4 weeks after surgery showed progressive declines in the LH secretory response approaching, eventually, that observed in intact animals. In 3 additional monkeys, initiation of estrogen maintenance therapy within 3 h of stalk transection, to achieve mid-follicular phase plasma levels of estradiol, totally abolished hyperresponsiveness to LHRH. Thus, the results of this study demonstrate that a transient increase in pituitary responsiveness to LHRH occurs after hypophyseal stalk transection in rhesus monkeys. Although the results indicate that this phenomenon can be accounted for, in large part, by the absence of estrogen feedback, they do not preclude the possibility that factors other than LHRH and gonadal steroids regulate gonadotropin secretion in monkeys.