Effect of partial testosterone replacement or thymosin on anti-DNA in castrated (NZB × NZW)F1 males
Year: 1987
Type: article
Abstract: Castration of young (3-week-old) but not older (3-month-old) male (NZB X NZW)F1 mice was associated with autoantibody production similar to that of untreated female littermates. The castration-induced disease provided a unique model for the evaluation of therapeutic modalities during the first 9 months of life. Castrated male (NZB X NZW)F1 mice were treated with either long-term thymosin (fraction 5) or testosterone for different periods of time. Continuous testosterone replacement abolished the autoimmune disease-accelerating effects of castration at 3 weeks. Brief treatment during either the early or the later periods of life of castrated (NZB X NZW)F1 males was insufficient to prevent accelerated anti-DNA production. Thymosin treatment, when started at the time of castration and continued through life, abolished the rise in anti-DNA. These studies suggest that androgens work throughout the first 7 months of life of the mouse to suppress anti-DNA and that lack of androgens for a relatively brief period allows anti-DNA production to be initiated. Once initiated it cannot be completely suppressed. The cellular basis of the fixed aspect of this process is unknown. A possible role of the thymus is suggested by the ability of thymosin to suppress anti-DNA.
Language: English
Subfield: Rheumatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2094386554