Gonadotropin reserve in anorexia nervosa
Molina, M.; Soria, J.; Lasso, P.; Canales, E.S.; Zarate, A.
Archivos de Investigacion Medica 8(1): 5-10
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0066-6769 PMID: 849097 Document Number: 115856
Four patients with anorexia nervosa were studied. All patients in the acute stage of the illness had low serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels which were unresponsive to clomiphene. The four women showed almost no LH response on a single iv injection of 100 mug LH-RH; however, the FSH response was similar to that of normal eumenorrheic women. When the patients had regained weight the LH levels were normal, and they responded normally to LH-RH. These results seem to suggest that impaired hypothalamic function is the cause of gonadotropin deficiency in most patients with anorexia nervosa.