Effects of castration on the lymphocytes of the thymus, spleen and lymph nodes.

摘要

A panel of commercial monoclonal antibodies against various T and B cell surface markers was used to investigate the post-castration histological alterations in the thymus, spleen and lymph nodes of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Castration of 5-week-oldmale rats produced an increase in thymus weight (P<0.05) compared to age-matched intact animals. There were post-castration increases in immuno staining for total T cells (MRC OX 19 and W 3/13), CD8 cells (MRC OX 8), B cells (MRC OX 12 and MARK-1) and cells bearing activation markers such as the interleukin-2 receptor (MRC OX 39), transferrin receptor (MRC OX 26) and MHC class II antigen (MRC OX 6). The results suggested that following castration there is an increase in the ability of lymphocytes to respond to activation..