Relationship Between Body Weight and Gonadotrophin Excretion in Anorexia Nervosa and Obesity

Gonadotrophin excretion in patients with anorexia nervosa or obesity was examined during dietary treatment. Patients with anorexia nervosa showed a positive correlation between weight on admission to hospital and subsequent gonadotrophin excretion. Ten out of 15 of these patients excreted detectable gonadotrophins during 50 days of treatment, although in the 'majority of patients gonadotrophin output was undetectable during the first week of treatment. Three obese patients became amenorrhoeic during weight reduction. Mean gonadotrophin .excretion diminished during successive menstrual cycles, but the phasic pattern of excretion seemed to be unaffected by weight loss. The relationship between change in body weight and both the basal and the phasic excretion of gonadotrophin, is discussed