Ovarian 17-hydroxyprogesterone hyperresponsiveness to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist challenge in women with polycystic ovary syndrome is not mediated by luteinizing hormone hypersecretion: evidence from GnRH agonist and human chorionic gonadotropin stimulation testing

What Was Tested

Researchers studied hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) and Leuprolide in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To assess whether the known LH hyperresponsiveness in PCOS patients mediates their exaggerated 17-OHP response to GnRH agonist challenge or whether the 17-OHP response can be duplicated by direct stimulation of the ovary with a fixed amount of hCG, 25 PCOS women [age, 20.6 +/- 1.1 yr; body mass index (BMI), 24.9 +/- 1.3 kg/m2] and 5 controls (age, 29.4 +/- 2.3 yr; BMI, 29.2 +/- 3.0) underwent both GnRH agonist (leuprolide acetate) and hCG testing.

Why It Was Studied

However, most hyperandrogenic women also have an exaggerated LH response to both native GnRH and GnRH agonists.

In addition, 23 normal women (age, 26.5 +/- 1.5 yr; BMI, 27.2 +/- 1.7 kg/m2) underwent hCG testing, and 21 other normal women (age, 19.3 +/- 0.5 yr; BMI, 23.0 +/- 0.8 kg/m2) underwent leuprolide acetate challenge.

Who Took Part

The study group was 25 women.

The age groups tagged for this paper are teenagers and adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Because people in this hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

What Was Measured

In addition, 23 normal women (age, 26.5 +/- 1.5 yr; BMI, 27.2 +/- 1.7 kg/m2) underwent hCG testing, and 21 other normal women (age, 19.3 +/- 0.5 yr; BMI, 23.0 +/- 0.8 kg/m2) underwent leuprolide acetate challenge.

The tests were administered during the early follicular phase in women who were ovulatory and in randomized order in the subjects receiving both stimuli.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include 17-alpha-Hydroxyprogesterone, Case-Control Studies, Chorionic Gonadotropin, Estradiol, Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone, Leuprolide and Luteinizing Hormone.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) and Leuprolide in 25 women.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1996 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.

More context: the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) compound page and the Leuprolide compound page, all human trials.