Abstract
Gonadectomized male laboratory rats were given 0.06 mg/kg estradiol benzoate daily for 14 days before being inoculated with 50 third-stage larvae ofParastrongylus malaysiensis. Hormone treatment was continued until the rats were killed. The numbers of larvae in the brain and of adult worms in the pulmonary area of the rats were determined every 7 days after the inoculation. It was found that the rats treated daily with estradiol benzoate had significantly and consistently higher numbers of larvae and adult worms as compared with the controls. The number of total leukocytes increased significantly after the rats were infected. The results show that estradiol-treated rats become susceptible toP. malaysiensis infection, which may indicate that the immunosuppressive effects of testosterone observed in earlier studies may partly be caused by estradiol that was peripherally aromatized from testosterone.
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Kamis, A.B., Ahmad, R.A. & Badrul-Munir, M.Z. Effects of estradiol on worm burden and peripheral leukocytes inParastrongylus malaysiensis-infected rats. Parasitol Res 80, 74–77 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00932628
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00932628