The effect of danazol on anterior pituitary function

Abstract

Danazol was given in a daily dose of 600 mg for 15 days to five postmenopausal women and five normal adult men. The basal levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), prolactin (PRL), and cortisol were determined for 3 days before treatment and during the last 3 days of treatment. A combined intravenous injection of 25 micrograms of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and 200 micrograms of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) was also given before and on the last day of treatment to each subject. Danazol reduces basal levels of FSH and LH and their cumulative response to GnRH but exercises no significant effect on either basal levels of TSH or PRL or their response to TRH, nor does it modify basal cortisol secretion.