Inhibin-B in the male rhesus monkey: Impact of neonatal gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist treatment and sexual development

We examined the effect of reversibly suppressing pituitary-testicular function during the neonatal period on developmental changes in inhibin-B and FSH secretion in male rhesus monkeys. Infants were treated with either vehicle, a GnRH antagonist (Ant) or the Ant and androgen (Ant/And) for the first 4 postnatal months, and the effects on serum inhibin-B and FSH were monitored during the neonatal and peripubertal periods. In neonates, Ant or Ant/And treatment lowered both serum FSH and inhibin-B levels. By 12 months of age, inhibin-B concentrations no longer differed across treatment groups. A major increase in inhibin-B occurred between 27-36 months of age (late prepubertal period) in all groups, but levels were lower at 33 and 36 months of age in Ant/And-treated animals than in controls. These differences most likely were related to fewer Ant/And-treated animals achieving sexual maturity during their fourth year of life. Regardless of treatment, inhibin-B levels were higher in those that were destined to become mature (in year 4) than in those that were not. During the late prepubertal period, serum inhibin-B was positively correlated with age and testicular volume, but not with serum LH or testosterone. After this period (39-52 months of age), inhibin-B no longer correlated with these parameters. FSH levels were near or below detection limits in most peripubertal animals, but FSH was detectable in fewer samples from control than treated animals. The data suggest that inhibin-B secretion in the neonate is driven by gonadotropin secretion, but during the juvenile hiatus in gonadotropin secretion, the monkey testis continues to produce substantial amounts of this hormone.