title: Episodic secretion of hormones and the diagnostic value of single blood estimates. I. LH, FSH, prolactin.
abstract: The episode fluctuation of serum LH, FSH and prolactin levels in peripheral blood was studied to determine the reliability of single estimates of the average blood level. Radioimmunoassay of the hormones was performed in serum withdrawn every 10 min between 8 and 12 h a.m. from 8 healthy women in various periods of the menstrual cycle. The rate of fluctuation of the hormone levels was characterized by the within-person coefficient of variation of single estimates, which averaged 30.3, 15.1 and 19.2% for LH, FSH and prolactin, respectively. Due to a pronounced fluctuation of gonadotropin levels, analysis of several serum samples is recommended to approach the actual mean hormone level.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011388:Prolactin; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone