In higher primates, FSH secretion appears to be regulated by a control system consistent with that described by the classical inhibin hypothesis. The purpose of the present experiment was to examine the time course of inhibin's action to suppress FSH secretion in the intact adult male rhesus monkey. To this end, five adult males implanted with indwelling venous catheters and exhibiting typical episodic patterns of LH and testosterone (T) secretion received a 4-day i.v. infusion of recombinant human (rh) inhibin A (832 ng/h x kg) followed, after a 4-week interval, by vehicle infusion of similar duration. Changes in circulating FSH concentrations during the inhibin and vehicle infusions were determined using a sensitive homologous macaque RIA, whereas enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were employed to track inhibin A, inhibin B, and inhibin pro-alpha-C levels during the experiment. Normal pulsatile activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-Leydig cell axis was confirmed by monitoring changes in circulating concentrations of LH and T in 12-h windows of sequential blood collection (1200-2400 h; every 20 min) before, during, and after the rh inhibin A and vehicle infusions. Although infusion of rh inhibin A, which led to a 12 ng/ml square wave increment in circulating levels of this inhibin dimer, produced a marked decline in circulating FSH concentrations, significant suppression of the secretion of this gonadotropin was not manifest until 54 h after initiation of the infusion. Despite the marked decline in FSH secretion during the last 24 h of the 4-day infusion of recombinant hormone, circulating inhibin B and pro-alpha-C concentrations were maintained at preinfusion control levels (1 ng/ml). The finding that imposition of an exaggerated circulating inhibin signal led to suppression of FSH secretion in the male monkey only after 2 days of exposure to the hormone indicates that in this species the feedback action of testicular inhibin on FSH secretion is heavily lagged. Moreover, as the decrease in FSH did not lead to changes in native inhibin secretion, it seems reasonable to propose that the FSH-inhibin feedback loop that governs testicular function in higher primates operates with considerable hysteresis at both the pituitary and gonadal levels. The failure of dramatically elevated inhibin A levels to influence the pulsatile secretion of LH in the monkey reinforces the idea that in this species the pituitary action of testicular inhibin is specific for FSH and does not involve modulation of GnRH receptor levels.