Ontogeny of luteinizing hormone and testosterone secretion

Plasma luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone (T) were measured by radioimmunoassay in 9 pubertal boys and 9 sexually mature adult men at 20 min intervals for 24 h. Polygraphic monitoring of sleep was also carried out to precisely identify sleep onset, wakefulness and specific sleep stages. In all 9 pubertal boys, plasma LH showed the characteristic augmentation of secretion synchronous with sleep. This increased LH secretory activity was effective in stimulating increased T secretion during sleep that resulted in uniformly higher mean T concentrations during sleep compared with waking. Plasma LH and T were also measured in 3 of these pubertal boys during acute inversion of the sleep wake cycle. The results showed that plasma LH and T were now augmented during the reversed daytime sleep period; the mean LH and T concentrations were significantly higher than during nocturnal waking. Measurement of LH and T in the 9 adult men showed episodic secretion of both hormones during waking and sleep periods with no consistent augmentation of either hormone during sleep.