A reproductive hormone that acts upon the ovaries to stimulate ovulation. It is secreted by the pituitary gland.
This is a sugar-bearing protein manufactured by the anterior pituitary. Like a lot of the pituitary hormones, it surges on and off, since constant secretion would overload and deaden receptors. In women, it builds up after menses, stimulating the release of estrogen from the ovaries. Estrogen in turn stimulates the hypothalamus to increase its stimulation of LH from the pituitary, until, a day or two before ovulation, they produce a guitar-amp feedback, and the cells that produce LH start to surge follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). The egg pops, being replaced by the corpus luteum, which produces progesterone for the next ten to twelve days.
Progesterone inhibits and lowers LH levels, as well as inhibiting levels of estrogen already being produced by the young follicle that will produce next month’s egg. In men, LH is responsible for stimulation of testosterone, although FSH and the testes hormone inhibin are responsible for both the production of sperm and controlling testosterone.
A hormone that causes ovulation in women and is associated with the secretion of progesterone and estrogen.
A kind of hormone produced by the pituitary gland that stimulates the production of other hormones from the ovaries and the testes, among them follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrogen, and progesterone. High levels of LH, triggered in turn by estrogen, stimulate ovulation, so levels of LH are used in some self-tests to indicate ovulation.
Hormone synthesized and released by the pituitary gland in response to estradiol. The release of LH matures the egg and weakens the wall of the follicle in the ovary. This process leads to ovulation— release of the mature egg.
A hormone that stimulates interstitial cells of the testes and the corpus luteum in the ovary.
A hormone that originates in the anterior portion of the pituitary gland and controls various reproductive functions.
Also known as luteotropin in females and interstitial cell-stimulating hormone in males. LH is produced by the pituitary gland. Together with estrogen, LH in women stimulates the follicles in the ovaries to release a developed egg. LH also prepares the uterus to support a fertilized egg. Also in women, LH promotes the formation of the tissue in the ovary that secretes another female sex hormone, progesterone, and prepares the mammary glands for milk secretion.
A hormone, synthesized and released by the anterior pituitary gland, that stimulates ovulation, corpus luteum formation, estrogen and progesterone synthesis by the ovary, and androgen synthesis by the interstitial cells of the testes.
A hormone produced by the anterior lobe of the pituitary, in females stimulating the development of the corpus luteum and helping in the secretion of progesterone, and in males stimulating the development of interstitial cells of the testes to produce testosterone.
A hormone produced by the pituitary gland that acts in females to stimulate ovulation and progesterone production, and in males to stimulate sperm and testosterone production.
A hormone released by the pituitary gland that controls the length and sequence of the menstrual cycle, production of estrogen and progesterone by the ovaries, and preparation of the uterus for implantation of a fertilized egg.
A glandular secretion released by the pituitary gland, responsible for controlling the monthly reproductive cycle and initiating the release of an egg in females. In males, it acts as a stimulant for the production of testosterone by the testes.