title: Simplified gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation test.
abstract: Provocative gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation testing indirectly assesses testicular function with more sensitivity than determination of basal gonadotropin levels alone. Unfortunately, the drawbacks of multiple blood sampling and high cost have limited the clinical usefulness of this test. We herein present a simplified, two-point, thirty-minute GnRH stimulation test. Statistical analysis of data from 55 men with normal baseline gonadotropin levels, reveal that this simplified test is just as accurate as the traditional test (p less than 0.0001) without the latter's attendant difficulties. In addition, we found that normal basal gonadotropin levels had little correlation to the actual responses obtained from GnRH stimulation testing (r = 0.20 and r = 0.39 for luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, respectively).
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fisch
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laor
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Lipshultz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D010906:Pituitary Hormone-Releasing Hormones; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013737:Testis / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010906:Pituitary Hormone-Releasing Hormones; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone