Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) in the Urine of Prepubertal Children

doi:10.1172/JCI105682

J Clin Invest. 1967 December; 46(12): 1925–1931.

doi: 10.1172/JCI105682.

PMCID: PMC292945

Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH) in the Urine of Prepubertal Children^*

Arleen B. Rifkind, Howard E. Kulin, and Griff T. Ross

Endocrinology Section, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Endocrinology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

^* Received for publication 5 June 1967 and in revised form 31 July 1967.

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Arleen Rifkind, Endocrinology section, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Md. 20014.

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) have been measured by specific bioassays in pooled urine samples from prepubertal children, aged 2-6 yr, and from male adults. For children the mean urinary excretion of FSH was 2.2 U 2nd International Reference Preparation (2nd IRP) per liter and the mean urinary excretion of LH was 0.44 U 2nd IRP per liter. For adults the mean FSH excretion was 5.6 U 2nd IRP per liter and the mean LH excretion was 4.7 U 2nd IRP per liter. Our data show a 2.5-fold increase of FSH, a 10.7-fold increase of LH, and a consequent decrease in the FSH: LH ratio from 5 to 1 between childhood and adulthood. FSH and LH in urine from three patients with gonadal abnormalities have also been studied. The results from normal children, adults, and abnormal patients form a spectrum and reveal that sexual maturity is accompanied by a marked increase in the excretion of LH with relatively smaller increases in FSH.

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