Open AccessEffects of Ovarian Steroids on Immunoglobulin-Secreting Cell Function in Healthy Women
Author(s) -
Fabien X. Lü,
Zhien Ma,
Susie Moser,
Thomas G. Evans,
Christopher J. Miller
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
clinical and vaccine immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.649
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1556-6811
pISSN - 1556-679X
DOI - 10.1128/cdli.10.5.944-949.2003
Subject(s) - antibody , immunoglobulin g , function (biology) , medicine , immunology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
To determine the effect of the ovarian hormone cycle on immunity, immunoglobulin-secreting cell (ISC) frequency and lymphocyte subsets were examined in the blood of healthy women. We found that immunoglobulin A (IgA)-secreting cells (IgA-ISC) were fourfold more frequent than IgG-ISC in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Further, the ISC frequency in PBMC was highest (P < 0.05) during the periovulatory stage of the menstrual cycle. Thus, endogenous ovarian steroids regulate the ISC frequency and this may explain why women are more resistant to viral infections and tend to have more immune-mediated diseases than men do.