The amplitude and duration of the midcycle LH surge required for ovulatory maturation of the follicle and its enclosed oocyte in primates are unknown. To titrate periovulatory LH requirements, female rhesus monkeys received human gonadotropins (FSH with/without LH) for 9 days beginning at menses to promote the development of multiple preovulatory follicles. The next day, animals (n = 4-6/group) received: 1) no ovulatory stimulus; 2) 1000 IU hCG, im; 3) one injection of 100 micrograms GnRH, sc (GnRH-1); 4) three injections of GnRH (GnRH-3) at 3-h intervals (0800, 1100, and 1400 h); or 5) two injections of 50 micrograms GnRH agonist (GnRHa), sc, 8 h apart (0800 and 1700 h) to induce ovulatory maturation. Follicles were aspirated 27 h after the hCG or initial GnRH/GnRHa injection or on days 8 and 10 in animals receiving no ovulatory stimulus. Nuclear maturity of oocytes was evaluated as a marker for reinitiation of meiosis. Estradiol and progesterone levels were determined in daily serum samples by RIA. Levels of LH(-like) bioactivity were measured at selected intervals after hCG injection and within 24 h of GnRH/GnRHa treatment. In all groups, estradiol continuously rose to similar peak levels on day 10. The hCG treatment markedly elevated circulating LH-like bioactivity for up to 3 days. In GnRH-1, bioactive LH increased to 433.1 +/- 170.2 ng/mL (mean +/- SEM; n = 3) within 1-2 h, but then decreased to baseline (4.9 +/- 1.5 ng/mL) within 6 h. GnRH-3 and GnRHa treatment extended the interval of elevated bioactive LH to 8 and 14 h, respectively. There was no difference in the peak levels of LH(-like) bioactivity reached after hCG, GnRH, or GnRHa injection. Functional luteal phases were absent in monkeys receiving no ovulatory stimulus, whereas hCG treatment increased progesterone levels to 101 +/- 9 nmol/L (n = 6) and elicited functional luteal phases of 11.8 +/- 0.4 days. In contrast, only one animal in the GnRH/GnRHa groups (i.e. one GnRH-3 monkey) displayed elevated progesterone levels in the luteal phase. Of the total cohort of oocytes aspirated from follicles, a greater (P less than 0.05) proportion were classified as being in metaphase I or II of meiosis after hCG treatment (86%) compared to no ovulatory stimulus (13%), GnRH-1 (0%), GnRH-3 (43%), and GnRHa (12%). Thus, GnRH elicits a transient LH surge that can be extended by GnRH-3 or GnRHa in stimulated cycles of monkeys.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)