Five-day-old female rats were androgenized with 1, 000 or 100μg testosterone propionate and were examined regarding the response to LHRH at 4, 7 and 12 weeks of age by measuring peripheral LH concentrations. The order of magnitude in LH release was 7>4>12 weeks old, whereas in normal rats, 4>12>7 weeks old. LH release in 4- and 7-week-old rats was higher than that in normal controls at the respective age, but was much- lower than that in normal controls 12 weeks old. The LH release by Des-Gly¹⁰-(D-Ala⁶)-LHRH-ethylamide (TAP127) was greater than that by natural LHRH both in normal and androgenized rats at 7 or 12 weeks old.
The results indicate that the pituitary gland in androgenized rats responds to LHRH to a much larger extent during the premature period and its responsiveness declines during the course of maturation. A marked hypersensitivity was observed in 7-week-old rats androgenized with 100 μg testosterone propionate. The process of androgenization may include the induction of alterations in the sensitivity of the pituitary to LHRH and probably in the LH synthesizing ability of the pituitary.