Abstract
SEX steroid hormones may be important in regulating both the systemic and secretory humoral immune system and on the basis of this hypothesis, we have carried out a series of experiments to clarify the action of the sex hormones on the rat uterine immune system. We report here that the stage of the oestrous cycle and the administration of physiological amounts of oestradiol to castrate rats markedly influences the accumulation of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and G (IgG) in uterine secretions. IgG is maximal at pro-oestrus but barely detectable at oestrus, dioestrus, and following ovariectomy. IgA is highest at pro-oestrus, remains elevated at oestrus, but drops to low levels at dioestrus and following ovariectomy. Of the steroids tested only oestradiol stimulated the appearance of IgA and IgG. These findings indicate that oestradiol is important in influencing the presence of both immunoglobulins in the uterus.
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WIRA, C., SANDOE, C. Sex steroid hormone regulation of IgA and IgG in rat uterine secretions. Nature 268, 534–536 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/268534a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/268534a0
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