This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by HOLST, N. Articles by FORSDAHL, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by HOLST, N. Articles by FORSDAHL, F.

Plasma Gastrointestinal Hormones during Spontaneous and Induced Menstrual Cycles^*

Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology (N.H., F.F.) and Medicine (Laboratory of Gastroenterology) (T.G.J., P.G.B.), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø Tromsø, Norway
The Hormone Laboratory, Aker Hospital (E.H.) Oslo, Norway

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Nicolai Hoist, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, N-9012 Tromsø, Norway.

Plasma levels of secretin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), somatostatin (SRIH), motilin, and/or pancreatic polypeptide, as well as serum estradiol, progesterone, PRL, LH, FSH, and/or GH were measured during the follicular phase, midcycle, and luteal phase of a spontaneous menstrual cycle in eight women and during ovarian stimulation with clomiphene citrate/human menopausal gonadotropin and hCG for in vitro fertilization in nine women.

Plasma SRIH concentrations were significantly (P < 0.02) higher in the luteal phase of spontaneous menstrual cycles than in follicular phase and midcycle. Serum GH levels, however, did not change. Plasma motilin concentrations also were higher in the luteal phase than at mid-cycle (P < 0.04). Plasma secretin, VIP, and pancreatic polypeptide concentrations did not change during the cycle. Throughout the spontaneous menstrual cycle we found significant positive correlations between plasma SRIH and serum progesterone (P < 0.007; r = 0.5869), plasma motilin and serum progesterone (P < 0.02; r = 0.5331), plasma secretin and serum estradiol (P < 0.04; r = 0.4711), and plasma secretin and serum PRL (P < 0.02; r = 0.5507).

During ovarian stimulation both plasma secretin and VIP gradually increased to a peak on cycle days 0 and 1, respectively (day 0 = the day of hCG injection), whereas plasma SRIH did not change. Serum estradiol and PRL increased significantly, and both peaked on cycle day 1. During ovarian stimulation plasma secretin correlated significantly with serum estradiol (P < 0.00001; r = 0.9333), serum PRL (P < 0.03; r = 0.6521), and plasma VIP (P < 0.03; r = 0.6534). In addition, plasma VIP and serum PRL both correlated significantly with serum estradiol (P < 0.05; r = 0.6024 and P < 0.04; r = 0.6384, respectively).

These results indicate 1) a possible effect of progesterone on the release of SRIH and motilin during the spontaneous menstrual cycle; 2) the unaltered serum GH concentrations in the luteal phase of the spontaneous menstrual cycle despite elevated plasma SRIH levels are probably due to a stimulatory effect of both progesterone and motilin on GH release; and 3) the increase in plasma secretin and VIP concentrations during ovarian stimulation is probably secondary to the concomitant increase in serum estradiol and/or PRL. We suggest that estradiol and/or PRL beyond a certain threshold level stimulate the release of secretin, and possibly also VIP, into plasma.

^* This work was supported by grants from Dr. Alexander Malthes Legat, Helga Sembs Fond, Norsk Råd til Bekjempelse av Fordøyelsessykdommer, Nordisk Insulinfond, Norsk Forening til Kreftens Bekjempelse, Landsforeningen mot Kreft, the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities, and Aakres Fond.

Received March 14, 1988.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Ovesen, N. Vahl, S. Fisker, J. D. Veldhuis, J. S. Christiansen, and J. O. L. Jørgensen Increased Pulsatile, But Not Basal, Growth Hormone Secretion Rates and Plasma Insulin-Like Growth Factor I Levels during the Periovulatory Interval in Normal Women J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., May 1, 1998; 83(5): 1662 - 1667. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				E. Leibenluft, P. L. Fiero, and D. R. Rubinow Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Dependent Variables in Mood Disorder Research Arch Gen Psychiatry, October 1, 1994; 51(10): 761 - 781. [Abstract] [PDF]