Serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) were determined in specimens obtained sequentially at 15- or 20-min intervals for six- or eight-hr periods in: girls of adolescent age with gonadal dysgenesis (N-4); ovariectomized adult females (N-5); a post-menopausal woman; agonadal young adult males (N-2); and one subject with Klinefelter's syndrome. LH levels oscillated significantly in each of these patients. FSH concentrations also varied in the majority of subjects, although the oscillations were not as marked as those of LH. FSH and LH fluctuations were often, but not always, synchronous. It is suggested that the rhythmic oscillations in peripheral gonadotropin levels reflect intermittent stimulation of pituitary secretion by the hypothalamic gonadotropin releasing hormone(s).
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Root et al. (1972) studied this question.