Sensitivity to androgen. A possible factor in sex differences in the immune response.

  • 1 November 1979
    • journal article
    • Vol. 38  (2) , 218-27
Abstract
In strains of mice with high or low sensitivity to androgen, previous studies demonstrated that sex differences in the levels of certain Igs occurred only in the high androgen responder (HAR) strain, but not in the low androgen responder (LAR) strain. HAR C57L/J males, whether intact or castrated, had lower levels of IgM and IgG2 than C57L/J females, and lower levels of IgM and IgG2 than LAR A/J mice (Cohn & Hamilton, 1976). The current study indicates that the pattern of low immune response characteristic of HAR males in non-specific responses also occurs in response to three different antigens and is evident in another HAR strain, the RF/J.