Influence of natural and synthetic estrogens on the course of autoimmune disease in the nzb/nzw mouse

Antinuclear antibodies were found in 64% of serum samples obtained from male NZB/NZW mice after 6 weeks of treatment with mestranol. Both female and male mice responded to this synthetic female hormone with marked elevations of serum α 2 ‐ and β‐globulins; γ‐globulins were not increased. There was no evidence that mestranol accelerated the development of autoimmune renal disease in these animals. Treatment of hybrid New Zealand mice with mestranol, 17‐β‐estradiol and oophorectomy exerts divergent effects on serum proteins and the development of serologic abnormalities.