title: Effect of partial testosterone replacement or thymosin on anti-DNA in castrated (NZB X NZW)F1 males.
abstract: Castration of young (3-week-old) but not older (3-month-old) male (NZB X NZW)F1 mice was associated with autoantibody production similar to that of untreated female littermates. The castration-induced disease provided a unique model for the evaluation of therapeutic modalities during the first 9 months of life. Castrated male (NZB X NZW)F1 mice were treated with either long-term thymosin (fraction 5) or testosterone for different periods of time. Continuous testosterone replacement abolished the autoimmune disease-accelerating effects of castration at 3 weeks. Brief treatment during either the early or the later periods of life of castrated (NZB X NZW)F1 males was insufficient to prevent accelerated anti-DNA production. Thymosin treatment, when started at the time of castration and continued through life, abolished the rise in anti-DNA. These studies suggest that androgens work throughout the first 7 months of life of the mouse to suppress anti-DNA and that lack of androgens for a relatively brief period allows anti-DNA production to be initiated. Once initiated it cannot be completely suppressed. The cellular basis of the fixed aspect of this process is unknown. A possible role of the thymus is suggested by the ability of thymosin to suppress anti-DNA.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004247:DNA / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008814:Mice, Inbred NZB; D009919:Orchiectomy; D012737:Sex Factors; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013947:Thymosin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D013739:Testosterone; D013947:Thymosin; D004247:DNA