To determine whether the pituitary-gonadal deficiency in heroin addicts
is related to heroin's effect on the hypothalamus, the authors administered
gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone (GnRH) to 10 male heroin addicts and
5 controls and measured follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing
hormone (LH) response. Basal FSH and LH levels were significantly lower in
addicts; after GnRH stimulation the addicts' FSH and LH values increased
but not significantly compared to controls. The difference between the two
groups' response was highly significant. The authors suggest that heroin
causes an incomplete blocking of gonadotropin secretion at the pituitary
level, inducing a hypophyseal-gonadal deficiency and a long-lasting
depletion of the endogenous releasing factor, which accounts for the
reduced response to GnRH.Abstract Teaser