Gonadotropin secretion during aging in women: review article.

Biological aging during the postmenopause markedly affects the neuroendocrine control of gonadotropin release. The determination of the age-related dynamics on gonadotropin secretion in postmenopausal women have proven to be a valid approach for delineating changes as a function of progressive age. As a result, major functional derangements, primarily at a hypothalamic rather than a pituitary site, have been determined as concomitants of aging in women. Furthermore, aging may impair the negative feedback sensitivity to ovarian sex steroids, and interfere with the central neurotransmitter activity governing gonadotropin secretion. The data reviewed on gonadotropin secretion in postmenopausal women support the view that the age-related processes are related to a hypothalamic rather than to a pituitary hypofunction.