Comparison of Estrogen Priming Effects with Body Weight Restoration Effects on the Gonadotropin Pattern of Patients with Anorexia nervosa

Plasma estradiol (E2), serum LH and FSH, and the gonadotropin response to two consecutive LHRH administrations (10 and 100 µg with an interval of 2 h) were determined in 19 patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) at the emaciation phase, before and after estradiol benzoate (E2B) injections (3 µg/kg/day for 7 days). The same investigations were repeated after weight restoration in 9 AN atients who remained amenorrheic. Both at the emaciation phase and after weight restoration, E2B enhanced the second LH response to LHRH and decreased serum FSH, suggesting that the functional capacities of the pituitary gonadotrophs are normal in AN. Unlike E2B injections, weight restoration increased all the hormone values, suggesting that the weight restoration effects on the abnormal gonadotropin secretory pattern of AN depend on another mechanism than the E2 lowering. That mechanism is probably a disorder of the hypothalamic LHRH secretion, the consequences of which could be reinforced by the low E2 levels.