Erbach G T, Bahr J M
Department of Physiology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801.
Immunopharmacology. 1988 Jul-Aug;16(1):45-51. doi: 10.1016/0162-3109(88)90049-5.
Estradiol (E2) is known to enhance humoral immunity. Previous studies examining serum immunoglobulin levels on days within the estrous cycle or in the ovariectomized, chronically E2-implanted rat have determined a positive correlation between serum E2 concentrations and antibody responsiveness. No previous study has investigated the effect of fluctuating E2 concentrations, as during the estrous cycle, throughout the course of a specific humoral immune response. Therefore, in the present study we addressed the influences of cyclic and tonic E2 exposure on the anti-fluorescein response in the rat. Ovariectomized rats were submitted to a 2 x 2 factorial design of chronic E2 implants and 4-day E2 injection (and vehicle control) regimens. Anti-fluorescein antibody production and thymic weights were measured. Animals given a 4-day cycle of E2 showed significantly (p less than 0.001) greater anti-fluorescein responses than did animals given tonic or no E2 replacement. Animals which were given implants, with or without cyclic E2 injections, experienced significant (p less than 0.001) thymic involution relative to those without implants. The 4-day E2 injections alone did not lead to thymic atrophy. These results indicate that while chronic E2 treatment induced thymic atrophy, cyclic exposure to E2 exerted a greater immunoenhancing influence than did tonic E2 exposure.
已知雌二醇（E2）可增强体液免疫。先前关于动情周期内各天或去卵巢且长期植入E2的大鼠血清免疫球蛋白水平的研究已确定血清E2浓度与抗体反应性之间呈正相关。此前尚无研究探讨在特定体液免疫反应过程中，如动情周期期间E2浓度波动的影响。因此，在本研究中，我们探讨了周期性和持续性E2暴露对大鼠抗荧光素反应的影响。对去卵巢大鼠采用慢性E2植入和4天E2注射（及溶剂对照）方案的2×2析因设计。测量抗荧光素抗体产生和胸腺重量。接受4天E2周期处理的动物比接受持续性E2替代或不接受E2替代的动物表现出显著更强（p<0.001）的抗荧光素反应。接受植入处理的动物，无论是否进行周期性E2注射，相对于未植入的动物均出现显著（p<0.001）的胸腺萎缩。单独进行4天E2注射未导致胸腺萎缩。这些结果表明，虽然慢性E2处理会诱导胸腺萎缩，但与持续性E2暴露相比，周期性E2暴露具有更强的免疫增强作用。
