Functional relationships of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular system in Graves' disease.

An increased secretion of gonadotropic hormone was found in hyperthyroid males despite the high basal serum total testosterone and oestradiol levels. This suggests that hyperthyroidism affects the responsiveness of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis to sexual steroid hormones. While in the hyperthyroid patients the elevation of the serum testosterone level in response to chorionic gonadotropin was lower than normally, the LH and FSH responses to LRH were increased. The results indicate that male hyperthyroidism is associated with a loss of responsiveness of the Leydig-cells to adequate stimuli, to which the pituitary reacts by a compensatory increase in its LH-secretion and by an increased reactivity to LRH. It is suggested that in addition to the direct effect of the increased thyroid hormone levels, a secondary elevation of the oestradiol concentration plays a major part in the alterations in question.