Serum testosterone (T) levels in BALB/cByJ and BALB/cJ substrain mice: potential relationship with differential susceptibility to experimental allergic orchitis (EAO).
BALB/cByJ substrain mice are highly susceptible to the induction of EAO whereas BALB/cJ mice are resistant. BALB/cJ mice have been reported to have elevated levels of serum T, which may account for disease resistance in light of its purported immunosuppressive effects. Serum T levels were determined by radioimmunoassay on 40 BALB/cByJ and 41 BALB/cJ age matched male mice. Our results indicate that the two substrains do not differ significantly from each other in their mean serum T levels (BALB/cByJ-4.50 ng/ml and BALB/cJ-3.16 ng/ml; p = 0.601) suggesting that the EAO resistant phenotype exhibited by BALB/cJ mice is not a result of the immunosuppressive effects of T.
Steenstra
R
R
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104.
Neblett
H
H
Teuscher
C
C
D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D006183:H-2 Antigens; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009920:Orchitis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology
D006183:H-2 Antigens; D013739:Testosterone