Gonadotropin Determinations in Timed 3-Hour Urine Collections During the Menstrual Cycle and LHRH Testing

Abstract The usefulness of timed 3-hour urine collections as a substitute for serum gonadotropin (LH and FSH) determinations during the menstrual cycle and during LHRH testing was examined. The timing of the 3-hour urine collection is not important in mature individuals, since no significant temporal trend was found when aliquots were collected every 3 hours throughout two 24-hour periods in one mature woman. Good correlation was found between serum LH and FSH concentrations and the quantity of LH and FSH in timed 3-hour urine specimens throughout normal, ovulatory menstrual cycles in two women. Studies before and during 51 LHRH stimulation tests in normal men, children, and women during different phases of the menstrual cycle and in patients with a variety of hypothalamicpituitary-gonadal axis disorders were performed. There was good correlation between the quantity of the gonadotropins in timed 3-hour urine collections and the mean serum LH and FSH concentrations before and during the LHRH test. The “re...