The effect of danazol on pulsatile gonadotropin secretion in women with endometriosis

Non-randomised trial OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 7 in-corpus citations
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-14 ⓘ

This study investigated how danazol influences the pulsatile release of gonadotropins in women diagnosed with endometriosis.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the effect of danazol on gonadotropin pulsatility was due to a direct effect of the drug or the suppression in the estradiol (E2) levels. DESIGN: Prospective analysis of serial blood samples at 10-minute intervals for 5 hours on days 3, 4, or 5 of the control cycle and 2 months after the start of danazol treatment. SETTING: Tertiary institutional outpatient care. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: Six eugonadal women with minimal endometriosis. INTERVENTIONS: Oral administration of danazol, 200 mg three times daily. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gonadotropin mean levels, pulse frequency, and amplitude. RESULTS: The mean level of E2 was the same in the control cycle as that during danazol treatment (170 pmol/L). Danazol administration resulted in a 16% increase in the mean luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse amplitude (95% confidence interval [CI] 6% to 26%, P less than 0.01), associated with a 20% decrease in LH pulse frequency (95% CI -71% to +31%, P = 0.37). There was a nonsignificant increase in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) pulse amplitude (2%, 95% CI -9% to +14%, P = 0.68) and in FSH pulse frequency (27%, 95% CI -4% to +58%, P = 0.08). The 22% decrease in the mean LH level (95% CI -85% to +12%, P = 0.13) and the 20% decrease in the mean FSH level (95% CI -53% to +37%, P = 0.33) were also not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in LH pulse amplitude represents a direct effect of danazol on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Danazol Endometriosis Follicle Stimulating Hormone Luteinizing Hormone Periodicity Periodicity Adult Adult Danazol Danazol Endometriosis Endometriosis Estradiol Estradiol Estradiol Female Female Follicle Stimulating Hormone Follicle Stimulating Hormone Humans

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (24)

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Source provenance

europepmc
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openalex
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pubmed
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License: CC0 · commercial use OK