You are doing veterinary research on dog hormones. In your set of blood samples, you have one male dog with abnormally high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone. What do you suspect may be the explanation for this outlier?

Question

A.  The dog had been neutered.
B.  The dog was a female, not a male.
C.  The dog had its pituitary gland removed.
D.  The dog had a hypothalamic problem causing low levels of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH).

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?


Gather Content
What do you already know about FSH and LH? What other information is related to the question?


Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
 

Answer 1

A.  The dog had been neutered.


Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
     · The concept addressed in this question involves the source of FSH and LH.
What type of thinking is required?
     · Analyze level:
       o This is an analyze question because you have to unexpected levels of FSH and LH into their component pieces to understand how they function.


Gather Content
What do you already know about FSH and LH? What other information is related to the question?
     · The same hormones may influence both male and female fertility in vertebrates.
     · Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulates spermatogenesis in males, and follicle development in females.
     · Luteinizing hormone (LH) stimulates the release of testosterone in males, and ovulation in females.
     · In males, negative feedback acts when testosterone and another hormone, inhibin, are present. In this case, testosterone inhibits FSH and LH production.


Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
     · If the pituitary gland had been removed, the dog’s life would have ended. Additionally, the removal of the pituitary gland would lower the levels of FSH and LH.
     · Low levels of GnRH would result in low levels of FSH and LH, not elevated levels.
     · Negative feedback from testes-produced testosterone and inhibin act to inhibit FSH and LH production. In a neutered animal, this negative feedback is absent and FSH and LH levels will be increased.


Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
     · Analyze level:
       o Answering this question correctly depended not only on distinguishing between
testosterone and other hormones, but on your ability to break down, or analyze, the role of negative feedback in regulating these. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that components of negative feedback include the inhibition of FSH and LH by testosterone, or that lack of testosterone would raise the levels of FSH and LH in the body? Did you have trouble breaking down the relationships between these hormones to determine the correct answer?