The relationship between the pituitary response to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and the ovulatory response to clomiphene citrate.
Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH), at a dose level of 10 mug, was administered intravenously to 31 patients, 9 with oligomenorrhea and 22 with secondary amenorrhea. A serum luteinizing hormone level higher than 45 mIU/ml at 30 or 45 minutes after injection was considered to be a "positive response" to LH-RH. All 9 patients in the oligomenorrheic group and 11 of the 22 patients with secondary amenorrhea had a "positive" response. The patients were then treated with increasing doses of clomiphene citrate until an ovulatory dose was reached. Eight of the nine patients with oligomenorrhea ovulated with doses of up to 150 mg of clomiphene daily for 5 days. Of the 11 patients in the group with secondary amenorrhea who had a "positive" response to LH-RH, 7 ovulated at a dose of 150 mg (or less) of clomiphene citrate, while only 1 of the 11 patients with a "negative" response ovulated while receiving a similar dosage of clomiphene. These results suggest that a simplified LH-RH test might be of value in selecting the level of therapy for ovulation induction.
D000328:Adult; D000568:Amenorrhea / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002996:Clomiphene / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009839:Oligomenorrhea / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010060:Ovulation / Q000187:drug effects*
D002996:Clomiphene; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone