Linked Life Data

7779761

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/7779761

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6
pubmed:dateCreated
1995-7-17
pubmed:abstractText
Female mice are more susceptible to Taenia crassiceps (TC) infection than males. However, after a month parasite load increases massively in both genders reaching thousands of parasites per host. The possibility of hormonal changes in the infected mice was envisaged. Sex hormones levels were assayed after different periods of infection, the parasites present in the peritoneal cavity were collected and gonads, uterus and seminal vesicles were weighed. In male mice, serum estradiol increased to levels 200 times their normal values whilst those of testosterone decreased 90% relative to controls. The weight of seminal vesicles was significantly diminished. Infected female mice also showed a slight increase in estrogen blood levels after 8 weeks of infection and the weight of the uterus was significantly increased relative to controls. Serum estradiol and testosterone were almost undetectable after gonadectomy. Cytokines such as IL-6 are capable of stimulating aromatase activity and we found that splenocytes from infected mice produced amounts of IL-6 higher than control as measured by ELISA. In conclusion T. crassiceps infection triggers a feminization process in the infected hosts. The gonads are required for the parasite to induce higher estrogen synthesis. IL-6 could be involved in the immunoendocrine mechanism used by the parasite to maintain a highly permissive environment for its rapid growth.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0960-0760
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
52
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
575-80
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1995
pubmed:articleTitle
Sex hormone changes induced by the parasite lead to feminization of the male host in murine Taenia crassiceps cysticercosis.
pubmed:affiliation
Departamento Inmunología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't