title: Age-related changes in graft-versus-host reactivity of spleen cells from male, virgin, or multiparous female Long-Evans rats.
abstract: Spleen cell graft-versus-host (GVH) reactivity was determined in male and female, either virgin or breeder, Long-Evans (LE) rats from 3 to 24 months of age. The tests of a regional (popliteal lymph node enlargement index) and a systemic (splenomegaly index, mortality assay) GVH reaction was used. Although the GVH reactivity declined with age in both sexes, the onset of this decline was significantly delayed in 18-month-old virgin females in comparison with 12-month-old males. Moreover, 6 or 7 consecutive pregnancies resulted in significantly enhanced GVH reactivity of 18-24-month-old females. This long-lasting effect of multiparity was observed in females mated either syngeneically or allogeneically. The possible role of neuroendocrine factors in delaying the age-related process of thymic involution in multiparous females is suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skowron-Cendrzak
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Godowicz
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006087:Graft vs Host Reaction / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D010298:Parity; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*