Clinical use of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and its long-acting analogues.

The clinical use of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) and its long-acting analogs were studied in women with secondary amenorrhea aged 18-35 years. Some patients treated with D-Ala6-LH-RH ethylamide showed clinical signs of luteinization. Even in doses as high as 1500 mcg given 3 times a week for 3 weeks. D-Ala6-LH-RH ethylamide did not produce any detectable side effects. Normal menstrual cycles were reestablished in 40% of the women treated with this analog and repeated administration did not produce pituitary exhaustion insofar as the release of gonadotropins was concerned. With the regimen used no positive signs of ovulation have so far been obtained. The findings give evidence that synthetic LH-RH can in certain cases permit clinicians to localize the site of pathological process in the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis and that the analog can produce prolonged elevation in plasma LH and follicle stimulating hormone levels.