Maternity Nursing Q 117

---

When teaching a group of adolescents about male hormone production, which of the following would the nurse include as being produced by the Leydig cells?

  

     A. Follicle-stimulating hormone

     B. Testosterone

     C. Luteinizing hormone

     D. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone

    

    

Correct Answer: B. Testosterone

---

Testosterone is produced by the Leydig cells in the seminiferous tubules. The Leydig cells make and secrete testosterone, in response to luteinizing hormone from the pituitary. This process does not start until puberty when LH stimulates the Leydig cells to produce testosterone. FSH stimulates the Sertoli cells to secrete androgen-binding protein into the lumen of the seminiferous tubules.

---

Option A: FSH is made by the pituitary gland, a small gland located underneath the brain. FSH plays an important role in sexual development and functioning. In women, FSH helps control the menstrual cycle and stimulates the growth of eggs in the ovaries.

Option C: Luteinizing hormone (LH) is produced and released in the anterior pituitary gland. This hormone is considered a gonadotropic hormone because of its role in controlling the function of ovaries in females and testes in males, which are known as the gonads.

Option D: The hypothalamus is responsible for releasing gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

---