MALE SEX STEROIDS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEPRESSING MACROPHAGE IMMUNE FUNCTION AFTER TRAUMA-HEMORRHAGE

Recent studies suggest beneficial effects of castration before soft ti ssue trauma and hemorrhagic shock on splenocyte immune functions. None theless, it remains unknown whether this effect of testosterone deplet ion is limited to splenocytes or is a generalized effect on immune fun ction. The present study was therefore carried out to determine whethe r androgen depletion before trauma-hemorrhage also has salutary effect s on splenic and peritoneal macrophage as well as on Kupffer cell func tion, as indicated by interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6 release. Male C3H/He N mice were castrated or sham-castrated 2 wk before the experiment and were killed at 24 h after trauma-hemorrhage and resuscitation. Signif icant depression of macrophage IL-1 and IL-6 release was only observed in sham-castrated mice, as opposed to normal levels of cytokine relea se from castrated animals after trauma-hemorrhage. In addition, only s ham-castrated animals showed significantly increased levels of IL-6 re lease from Kupffer cells, which is believed to contribute to the syste mic inflammatory response to trauma-hemorrhage. These observations sug gest that the beneficial effects of androgen depletion before trauma-h emorrhage are not limited to splenocyte immune functions but are more global in nature. These results in surgically castrated animals sugges t that androgen-blocking agents should be studied for their potential to reverse the immunodepression associated with trauma-hemorrhage.