Plasma prorenin response to human chorionic gonadotropin in ovarian-hyperstimulated women: correlation with the number of ovarian follicles and steroid hormone concentrations.

Plasma prorenin and active renin were measured before and after human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration in two groups of patients undergoing ovarian stimulation for 4-6 days with follicle-stimulating hormone alone or in combination with luteinizing hormone, for in vitro fertilization. Baseline total plasma renin (prorenin plus active renin; n = 12) averaged 25 +/- 8 ng/ml per hr (mean +/- SD). Total renin did not change during ovarian stimulation but it increased to 46 +/- 16 ng/ml per hr (P less than 0.05) 1 or 2 days later, just before hCG administration. Thirty-six hours after hCG administration, just before laparoscopy and egg retrieval, total renin was 123 +/- 97 ng/ml per hr; a peak of 182 +/- 143 ng/ml per hr occurred 2-6 days later--i.e., during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. In eight of the patients who did not conceive, total renin returned to baseline 14 days after hCG administration. In four who conceived, a nadir was reached (57 +/- 13 ng/ml per hr) 8-12 days after hCG administration and then total renin increased again as the plasma beta hCG measurement began to rise. By day 16 it averaged 225 +/- 157 ng/ml per hr. In a second group of five patients active renin and prorenin were measured separately. Active renin comprised less than 20% of the total renin at all times. It was unchanged until day 4 after hCG administration and then increased significantly only when plasma progesterone was high. Thus, the initial response to hCG was entirely due to an increase in prorenin. A highly significant correlation was observed between the number of follicles and the total renin increases on the day of aspiration (r = 0.93, P less than 0.001) and at the peak (r = 0.89, P less than 0.001). After hCG administration, a temporal relationship was observed between the rise in total renin and plasma estradiol and progesterone levels. These results demonstrate that plasma prorenin increases markedly after administration of hCG and that the rise is directly related to the number of ovarian follicles and to plasma estrogen and progesterone levels. The findings suggest that prorenin is produced by the mature ovarian follicle and by the corpus luteum in response to gonadotropin stimulation.