SUPPRESSION OF ACUTE EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS BY THE SYNTHETIC SEX-HORMONE 17-ALPHA-ETHINYLESTRADIOL - AN IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDY IN THE LEWIS RAT
Wj. Trooster et al., SUPPRESSION OF ACUTE EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS BY THE SYNTHETIC SEX-HORMONE 17-ALPHA-ETHINYLESTRADIOL - AN IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDY IN THE LEWIS RAT, International archives of allergy and immunology, 102(2), 1993, pp. 133-140
Induction of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in female L
ewis rats led to the well-known clinical symptoms and histological sig
ns. Treatment with the synthetic estrogen 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (E
E) from day -4 before induction until day 21 after induction resulted
in partial suppression of these signs and symptoms. Analysis of the pe
ripheral blood leukocyte (sub)populations in these treated animals ind
icated some remarkable changes. However, these changes were also obser
ved without EE treatment. EE treatment of EAE rats resulted in a signi
ficant decrease of the relative weights of both thymus and spleen, whi
ch changes however were not reflected in the peripheral blood. Apparen
tly the effects of EE treatment on EAE in the present experiments indi
cate an action locally at the site of the EAE lesion and do not seem t
o be mediated by gross changes in the levels of peripheral blood leuko
cytes.