Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Vol 5, 1208-1215, Copyright © 1994 by American Society of Nephrology

REGULAR ARTICLES

Changes in the kinetics and biopotency of luteinizing hormone in hemodialyzed men during treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin

F Schaefer, B van Kaick, JD Veldhuis, G Stein, K Scharer, WR Robertson and E Ritz
Department of Pediatrics, University of Heidelberg, Germany.

To investigate the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (rh-EPO) on the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis in end-stage renal failure, plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) concentration release was assessed by frequent blood sampling (every 10 min), both during an 8-h baseline period and after stimulation with an iv bolus of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Seven adult hemodialyzed men were studied before and after partial correction of anemia by rh-EPO treatment. LH was determined by an in vitro Leydig cell bioassay (bio-LH) and a highly sensitive immunoradiometric assay. Pulsatile bio-LH secretion and clearance characteristics were assessed by multiple-parameter deconvolution analysis. Although the rh-EPO treatment did not lead to a change in average concentrations of plasma bio-LH, the mass of hormone released per secretory burst more than doubled, and the estimated bio- LH production rate increased from 8.8 +/- 2.3 to 15.6 +/- 5.2 IU/L per hour (P = 0.05). The lack of change in mean plasma bio-LH is explained by a simultaneous decrease in plasma half-life from 106 +/- 27 to 67 +/- 19 min (P < 0.02). The decrease in the plasma half-life of bio-LH was closely associated with the rise in hematocrit, suggesting an effect of the increased red blood cell mass on LH distribution space and elimination kinetics. As a consequence of the changes in hormone kinetics, the incremental amplitudes of the plasma concentration pulses of bio-LH increased from 112 to 121% of nadir levels (P < 0.05), resulting in a more distinctly pulsatile pattern of hormone signals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Karagiannis and F. Harsoulis Gonadal dysfunction in systemic diseases Eur. J. Endocrinol., April 1, 2005; 152(4): 501 - 513. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Schmidt, A. Luger, and W. H. Horl Sexual hormone abnormalities in male patients with renal failure Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., March 1, 2002; 17(3): 368 - 371. [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Van den Berghe, F. Weekers, R. C. Baxter, P. Wouters, A. Iranmanesh, R. Bouillon, and J. D. Veldhuis Five-Day Pulsatile Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Administration Unveils Combined Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Defects Underlying Profound Hypoandrogenism in Men with Prolonged Critical Illness J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., July 1, 2001; 86(7): 3217 - 3226. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. F. PALMER Sexual Dysfunction in Uremia J. Am. Soc. Nephrol., June 1, 1999; 10(6): 1381 - 1388. [Full Text]

Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Nephrology. Online ISSN: 1533-3450 Print ISSN: 1046-6673