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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-6-12
pubmed:abstractText
Testosterone induces susceptibility to Plasmodium chabaudi malaria by imposing restrictions on those mechanisms which mediate resistance controlled by genes of the H-2 complex and the non-H-2 background in mice. This study investigated whether these restrictions are abolished after withdrawal of testosterone. Female mice of the inbred strain C57BL/10 were treated with 0.9 mg testosterone twice a week for 3 weeks and testosterone was then withdrawn for 12 weeks. The treatment raised plasma testosterone levels from 0.18 ng/ml to 3.79 ng/ml. After the testosterone treatment, these levels progressively dropped and reached 0.21 ng/ml by week 12 after testosterone withdrawal. Surprisingly, however, the testosterone-induced susceptibility still persisted. When mice were challenged on week 12 after testosterone withdrawal, P. chabaudi infections were still fatal in testosterone-treated mice, in contrast to self-healing infections in resistant, i.e. untreated, control mice. In addition, testosterone caused a persistent decrease in the levels of total IgG antibodies, especially IgG1 and IgG2b isotypes. In contrast, testosterone-induced changes in spleen cells, such as the reduction in number by 50%, the relative increase in CD8+ cells and the decrease in Ig+ cells, as well as the acquisition of the susceptible phenotype, were completely reversed on week 10 after testosterone withdrawal at the latest. Testosterone did not affect the production of the TH1-signalling cytokine interferon-gamma and the TH2-signalling cytokines interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 in response to P. chabaudi malaria. Together, our data indicated that the gene-controlled host resistance to P. chabaudi malaria is subject to superior hormonal imprinting: when once induced by testosterone, mechanisms which suppress resistance thus causing susceptibility persist independently of testosterone.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0022-0795
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
153
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
275-81
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-11-21
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1997
pubmed:articleTitle
Testosterone-induced susceptibility to Plasmodium chabaudi malaria: persistence after withdrawal of testosterone.
pubmed:affiliation
Division of Molecular Parasitology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article