A parsimonious mathematical model of pulse modulated regulation of non-basal testosterone secretion in the male is developed. The model is of the third differential order, reflecting the three most significant hormones in the regulation loop, but is yet shown to be capable of sustaining periodic solutions with one or two pulses of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in each period. Lack of stable periodic solutions is otherwise a main shortcoming of existing low-order hormone regulation models. Existence and stability of periodic solutions are studied. The periodic mode with two GnRH pulses in the least period has not been described in medical literature, but is found to explain experimental data well.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)78-85
Number of pages8
JournalAutomatica
Volume45
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2009

    Research areas

  • Biomedical systems, Impulse signals, Limit cycles, Oscillation

    Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

ID: 41069703