Changes in the concentration of luteinizing hormone in plasma during development in the guinea-pig.

The concentration of LH in the plasma of guinea-pigs from day 50 of gestation to day 45 of postnatal life was assayed by radioimmunoassay utilizing a cross-reaction with anti-ovine LH antiserum. The effect of gonadectomy in infancy and in the adult upon the plasma concentration of LH was also studied. The LH concentration in the plasma of male or female foetuses was high immediately prenatally and fell at birth. High levels of LH were again detected in male, with a lesser increase in female, guinea-pigs over the first 10 days postnatally. Maternal plasma concentrations of LH remained consistently low. Removal of the gonads on days 0, 5, 10, 15, 25 or 35 of postnatal life, followed by blood collection at autopsy 10 days later, caused a significant rise in plasma LH content at all ages. The rise in plasma LH after gonadectomy in adults was less marked in male than in female guinea-pigs.