Genetic variant of luteinizing hormone in Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the frequency of luteinizing hormone (LH) variant in males and females in West region of the Czech Republic. This species of mutated LH concerns borderline alterations in pituitary-gonadal function, including higher risk for the development of more aggressive forms of prostate carcinoma in males. METHODS The examined normal population consisted of randomly selected 82 males and 175 females (age range of 14 to 72 years). Variant LH was determined by immunofluorimetric method using two pairs of monoclonal antibodies, one of which detecting both wild-type (w+) and variant LH, while the other detecting only w+-LH. RESULTS The carrier frequency of the variant LH allele in the population sample was 17.5 % (12.2 % in males and 20.6 % in females) which was within the range of the European prevalence. CONCLUSION The prevalence of the common variant of LH in the investigated region of West Bohemia was close to that of other Middle-European and North-European populations.