Immunomodulatory Effects of 17 beta-Estradiolin NMRI Mice Immunized by SRBC

Steroid hormones have powerful effect on all levels of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Among steroid hormones, estrogens play a key role in the regulation of homeostasis of bone marrow activity, cardiovascular system and central nervous system. The main purpose of this study was to determine the possible effects of moderating role of estrogen on humoral and cellular immune responses following the sheep red blood cells challenge in the mouse model. 14 mice were divided into two groups and were immunized with SRBC antigen. The treated mice were injected with estrogen for two weeks (5mg/kg- intraperitoneally) from the beginning of the study. Specific humoral and cellular immunity, susceptibility of macrophages respiratory burst and proliferation of immune cells were measured. The Mann-Whitney test was used in order to compare using SPSS 19 software. The 17 beta-estradiol treated mice showed a significant increase in DTH reaction. MTT test results showed an increase in the rate of lymphocyte proliferation in estrogen-treated group compared with control group. The spleen weight mean in treated mice group (28.62±1.76) showed a significant increase compared to control group (21.00±1.83) (p<0.01). The results of NBT reduction showed a decrease in spleen macrophages/monocyte respiratory burst capability. It seems that 17 beta-estradiol can be considered as the moderating immune system compound.