The effect of leuprorelin on steroidogenesis of human preovulatory granulosa cells in vitro

Purpose: LHRH analogues are commonly used in in vitro fertilization protocols to induce hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. The aim of our study was to evaluate the action of the LHRH agonist leuprorelin on the E₂ steroidogenesis of human preovulatory granulosa cells.Results: FSH causes a significant increase in E₂ production which is double that of the basal condition (P<0.01). At concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 ng/ml, leuprorelin does not produce any modification with respect to the basal condition during the 24- or 72-hr culture period. The FSH, added at different analogue concentrations, produces a significant increase in E₂ production as compared to the basal condition (P<0.05) and the E₂ production percentage is similar to the values obtained with FSH alone during the 24- or 72-hr culture period.Conclusions: Leuprorelin has no effect on the in vitro E₂ production at any concentration. The treatment with different doses of leuprorelin does not suppress FSH-stimulated E₂ production. Our findings suggest that human granulosa cells are not acutely sensitive to a direct action on E₂ steroidogenesis by LHRH analogues.