Characterization of follicle stimulating hormone profiles in normal ovulating women.
OBJECTIVE
To describe FSH profile variants.


DESIGN
Observational study.


SETTING
Multicenter collaborative study.


PATIENT(S)
A total of 107 women.


INTERVENTION(S)
Women collected daily first morning urine and underwent serial ovarian ultrasound.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) FSH RESULT(S)
The individual FSH cyclic profiles demonstrated a significant departure from the currently accepted model. A decline in FSH levels at the end of the follicular phase was observed in only 42% of cycles. The absence of this decline was significantly associated with a shorter luteal phase and higher pregnanediol-3α-glucuronide, FSH, and LH levels at the time of ovulation. In 34% of the cycles, significant FSH variability was observed throughout the follicular phase; this variability was associated with higher body mass index and lower overall FSH and LH levels throughout the cycle. The FSH peak occurs on average 2 hours before ovulation. The FSH peak duration was shorter than the LH peak.


CONCLUSION(S)
These results suggest that average FSH profiles may not reflect the more complex dynamics of daily hormonal variations in the menstrual cycle. It is possible that discrepancies between the average normal FSH profile and the individual day-to-day variants can be used to detect abnormalities.
['Ecochard|René|R|', 'Guillerm|Agnes|A|', 'Leiva|René|R|', 'Bouchard|Thomas|T|', 'Direito|Ana|A|', 'Boehringer|Hans|H|']
D000328:Adult D015415:Biomarkers D005060:Europe D005260:Female D043373:Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Human D005498:Follicular Phase D006801:Humans D008183:Luteal Phase D007986:Luteinizing Hormone D008875:Middle Aged D010060:Ovulation D012016:Reference Values D013997:Time Factors D055815:Young Adult
ovulation menstrual cycle Follicle-stimulating hormone