Correct Order of Half-Life of Hormones

The correct order of half-life of hormones (longest to shortest) is:

Correct Answer: PMSG > hCG > FSH > LH > Oxytocin

The correct descending order of half-lives:

• PMSG: ~6 days (longest — highest sialic acid content)
• hCG: ~11 hours
• FSH: ~170 minutes
• LH: ~60 minutes
• Oxytocin: ~2 minutes (shortest — a peptide, not glycoprotein)

Key Reasoning

• PMSG and hCG are glycoprotein hormones with the highest sialic acid content, hence the longest half-lives.
• FSH and LH are also glycoproteins but with lower sialic acid content.
• Oxytocin is a small nonapeptide (9 amino acids) with no carbohydrate moiety, making it rapidly degraded by enzymes — hence its very short half-life.

Memory Aid

P-H-F-L-O: PMSG → hCG → FSH → LH → Oxytocin