D. Muller et al., ESTROGEN INFLUENCES CD4(-LYMPHOCYTE ACTIVITY IN-VIVO AND IN-VITRO IN BETA(2)-MICROGLOBULIN-DEFICIENT MICE() T), Immunology, 86(2), 1995, pp. 162-167
Oestrogen directly influences autoimmune diseases and the immune respo
nse to microbes. We studied the effect of oestrogen on CD4+ T cells sp
ecific for lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) using mice geneti
cally engineered to be deficient in beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)m(-/
-)). These mice are deficient in beta(2)-microglobulin, class I major
histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and CD8+ T lymphocytes. Fat
al leptomeningitis after intracranial infection with LCMV is mediated
by CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in wild-type C57BL/6 mice, and b
y CD4+ T cells in beta(2)m(-/-) mice. Male and female wild-type C57BL/
6 mice showed equal susceptibility to immune meningitis. In contrast,
male beta(2)m(-/-) mice were less susceptible to fatal immune meningit
is than were females. Orchidectomy and oestrogen treatment of male bet
a(2)m(-/-) mice in vivo restored susceptibility to meningitis. The cla
ssic weight loss seen in beta(2)m(-/-) mice after intracranial infecti
on was also accentuated in females. Further, the in vitro activity of
CD4(+) T cells from male beta(2)m(-/-) mice, as measured by CTL assays
, was shown to be dependent on oestrogen. The natural killer cell acti
vity of spleen cells from beta(2)m(-/-) mice after infection with LCMV
was not affected by oestrogen. These data demonstrate the influence o
f oestrogen on CD4(+) T-cell activity both in vivo and in vitro.