Luteinizing Hormone Deficiency

Excerpt

Luteinizing hormone (LH) is a glycoprotein hormone secreted from the pituitary gland in response to the pulsatile release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus. Many conditions can cause its deficiency as a response to maintain homeostasis and as a response to hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal feedback regulation. However, isolated luteinizing hormone deficiency is rare, and it usually occurs with exogenous testosterone use, which decreases or stops the production of LH due to its negative-feedback effect.

LH deficiency almost always occurs along with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) deficiency because of their common origin of secretion i.e., the gonadotroph cells of the pituitary. Luteinizing hormone is involved in the maturation of primordial germ cells in both sexes. In men, it stimulates the testes to produce testosterone, and in women, it stimulates the ovary to produce the steroid hormones and plays a crucial role in ovulation.

LH and FSH are the main regulating hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, and their deficiency can present as delayed puberty, reproductive abnormalities, and hypogonadism depending on whether the condition occurs before or after puberty.