This is a gonadotropic glycoprotein hormone secreted
from the anterior pituitary. In females, an LH surge triggers
ovulation and stimulates the development of the corpus
luteum. In males, LH stimulates androgen production and
spermatogenesis. Gonadotropic fractions with the properties of LH were
purified from the ovine in the late 1950s, and subsequently LH has been isolated from many other species.
Human LH was first fully purified in 1964. The aa
sequence of the ovine LH β-subunit was determined in
1972. The full nucleotide sequence of the human LH
β-subunit gene was determined in 1984.
