Abstract
Gonadectomized male albino rats aged 7 weeks were given 1.5 mg/kg testosterone propionate daily and inoculated with 50 third-stage larvae ofAngiostrongylus malaysiensis. The treatment significantly increased the number of larvae and adult worms recovered from the brain and pulmonary arteries, respectively, and the rats exhibited smaller thymus glands. The total numbers of leukocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, and especially eosinophils increased significantly post-infection, but the counts were higher in the untreated infected controls. Presumably, immunosuppressive effects of testosterone may at least partly be responsible for the higher loads ofA. malaysiensis worms found in male rats as compared with females in the field.
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Funding for this project was provided by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (project UKM 47/90)
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Kamis, A.B., Ahmad, R.A. & Badrul-Munir, M.Z. Worm burden and leukocyte response inAngiostrongylus malaysiensis-infected rats: the influence of testosterone. Parasitol Res 78, 388–391 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00931693
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00931693