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PeptideHormone

Follicle-stimulating hormoneFSH

Drives follicular development and spermatogenesis.

EndogenousEstablishedFDA-approved

The slow counterpart to LH's surge, and half of why the reproductive axis needs two gonadotropins rather than one.

Identity

Class
Glycoprotein hormone (α/β heterodimer)
Source
Anterior pituitary gonadotrophs
Receptor
FSH receptor (FSHR)

Key properties

Evidence floorClinicalREF1CLIN1
Molecular weight
≈ 35,500 Da
REF
Half-life (native)
~3–4 h
CLIN
Model dosing

Approximate values for the native hormone; engineered analogs are often deliberately larger and far longer-acting. Each figure carries its own provenance tier, and the floor is the weakest of them - the Standard.

Mechanism

FSH promotes ovarian follicle maturation in females and supports spermatogenesis via Sertoli cells in males. With LH it forms the two-gonadotropin output of the pituitary under pulsatile GnRH control.

Reference notes

  • FSH and LH are co-secreted but act on different gonadal targets.
  • GnRH pulse frequency biases the relative output of FSH vs LH.
  • It shares the common glycoprotein alpha subunit with LH, hCG, and TSH.

Regulatory status

United States · reviewed September 2026
FDA-approvedFSH is an approved prescription medicine in the United States.
Basis
Follitropin alfa and beta (Gonal-f, Follistim) approved for infertility treatment.

Status describes the molecule as a drug substance under US law and is an editorial reading of the public record — approvals, trial registrations, and the FDA 503A bulk-substances list. It is not legal advice and it changes; the review date above is the last time the table was checked. Other jurisdictions are noted only where they differ materially.

Common questions

What is Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)?
Drives follicular development and spermatogenesis. Structurally it is Glycoprotein hormone (α/β heterodimer).
How does FSH work?
FSH promotes ovarian follicle maturation in females and supports spermatogenesis via Sertoli cells in males. With LH it forms the two-gonadotropin output of the pituitary under pulsatile GnRH control.
How strong is the evidence for FSH?
PeptideHormone grades FSH at the "Established" evidence tier — its mechanism and core effects are settled across the peer-reviewed literature. It is catalogued as an endogenous signal the body produces itself, and the tier is an editorial judgment about the public literature that can change as the science does.
What is the half-life of FSH?
The reported circulating half-life of FSH is ~3–4 h.
Is FSH FDA-approved?
Yes — as of September 2026, FSH is an approved prescription medicine in the United States. Follitropin alfa and beta (Gonal-f, Follistim) approved for infertility treatment. Status is US-centric and can change; check the FDA record for the current position.

In the literature

Live registry counts · retrieved
Registered trialsREF
46839 recruiting
  • Ph 127
  • Ph 244
  • Ph 359
  • Ph 495
Open on ClinicalTrials.gov
PubMed recordsREF
50,872
Since 20227,224 · 14%
Open on PubMed

Searched as Follicle-stimulating hormone, FSH. Counts are search hits from the primary registries, not a curated set and not a grade – a measure of how much work exists on FSH, not how it turned out.

Selected literature

Curated peer-reviewed reviews, sourced from PubMed. Selected for relevance, not exhaustive — open any entry on PubMed for the full record and its primary citations.

  1. 1.Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Glycobiology · Endocrinology, 2019 · PMID 31127275
  2. 2.The Roles of Luteinizing Hormone, Follicle-Stimulating Hormone and Testosterone in Spermatogenesis and Folliculogenesis Revisited · International journal of molecular sciences, 2021 · PMID 34884539

External references

FSH in the public knowledge graph — the same entity resolved across the authoritative chemistry and protein databases.