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Sleep-Wake Patterns of LH and Testosterone Release in Prepubertal Boys

¹ Departments of Reproductive Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine California 92093
² Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine California 92093
³ University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and the Endocrine Unit, La Jolla V.A. Hospital3 California 92093

Reprint requests to: Howard L. Judd, M.D., Department of Reproductive Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California 92093.

Ten prepubertal boys who ranged in age from 6 11/12 to 14 2/12 years were studied for 2 consecutive nights. The subjects went to sleep at their usual times and sleep patterns were monitered polygraphically. Each night blood samples were drawn every 30 min from 1800 to 0600 h and plasma LH and testosterone (T) levels were measured on each sample. During evening wakefulness the mean LH (range 2.8–5.1 mlU/ml) and T (range 31–116 pg/ml) levels were in the normal prepubertal range for each subject. In the 5 youngest subjects (age 6 11/12 to 10 8/12 years) the mean hormone levels during sleep were significantly higher than the wakeful levels in 2 of 9 and0 of 9 study nights for LH and T, respectively. In contrast, in the older prepubertal boys (age 13 2/12 to 14 2/12 years) the mean levels during sleep were significantly higher than wakeful values during 8 of 9 and 5 of 9 study nights for the same respective hormones. These data suggest that in young prepubertal subjects the sleep related rises of LH and T are either absent or not discernable in the peripheral blood. The prepubertal pattern of sleep-entrained LH and T release may be seen in prepubertal boys approaching the time of puberty and these hormonal rhythms are antecedent to the physical changes of puberty.

Supported by grants from American Cancer Institute (#75 5017), Rockefeller Foundation (R-75029), and USPHS (AM-17334) and by the Med. Research Service of the V.A.

A portion of this work was presented at the Fiftyeighth Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society, San Francisco, 1976.

Received August 18, 1976.

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