Abstract
To investigate the greater susceptibility of the male to severe infections we have studied antibody production by individual spleen cells in immature and adult Swiss mice. Previous studies using the Jerne agar-plaque technique have shown: 1) following enteric colonization with E. coli or injection of small numbers of heat-killed E. coli (HKE) significantly more cells produce specific antibody in weanling and adult females than males; 2) after injection of small numbers of HKE (3 × 105) sexually mature females respond with significantly greater numbers of antibody producing cells (APC) than weanling females, but responses of adult males are only slightly better than those of male weanlings; 3) mean amounts of antibody produced by male and female cells are the same.
Responses of prepubertal ovariectomized females (OF) were compared to those of equal numbers of their sham-operated male (SM) and female (SF) littermates. Three weeks postoperatively, 4 days after intraperitoneal injection of 3 × 105 HKE, total APC/spleen ranged from 0–600. When individual totals of APC were ranked, responses of OF and SM were alike and those of SF were significantly better (p < .001). 10/28 SF vs. 6/28 OF and 7/30 SM were in the top third of the rank order. In a similar study total APC for castrated males and SM were the same. Estradiol-17β (500 ng) was given to 50 weanling males the week of challenge (5 × 105 HKE). In responses ranging from 0–1550 APC/spleen, the estradiol-treated males ranked higher than 53 saline-injected littermate controls (p < .05).
Findings show that the significantly better immunologic responsiveness of the female is dependent on ovarian function; small amounts of estradiol appear to enhance the proliferation of immunocompetent cells.
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Kenny, J., Gray, J. & Michaels, R. Hormonal basis for sex differences in immunity. Pediatr Res 5, 377 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197108000-00028
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197108000-00028