Naloxone is unable to stimulate FSH and LH secretion in elderly men, suggesting a reduced endogenous opioid control of gonadotropin secretion in senescence. In the present study, we examined whether in elderly men a chronic dopaminergic stimulation with bromocriptine (5 mg/day for 7 days) modifies the gonadotropin response to naloxone (4 mg as an i.v. bolus plus 10 mg infused in 2 h). Eleven younger men (group 1, 22-40 years old) participated as controls. Twenty-two elderly men were selected from a larger population and were divided into two groups: subjects with compensated gonadal failure (normal blood testosterone and elevated gonadotropin concentrations; group 2, n = 11; 62-80 years old) and men with normal gonadal function (normal blood testosterone and gonadotropin levels; group 3, n = 11; 61-82 years old). Naloxone induced a striking LH and a slight but significant FSH increase in group 1, but was unable to change serum gonadotropin concentrations in elderly subjects of both groups 2 and 3. When experiments were repeated after bromocriptine treatment, no significant differences in LH and FSH responses to naloxone were observed in the younger subjects. On the other hand, bromocriptine restored significant gonadotropin responses to naloxone in elderly men. In fact, after bromocriptine, naloxone-induced FSH and LH increments in groups 2 and 3 were indistinguishable from those observed in group 1. These data suggest that in men age-related dopaminergic alterations may underlie the defective endogenous opioid control of gonadotropin secretion.