Effect of castration and sex hormones on experimental autoimmune thyroiditis

To determine the effect of sex hormones on experimental autoimmune thyroiditis, male and female good responder and poor responder mice were castrated at 2 or 4 weeks of age. Following castration some groups of good responder mice were further treated with β-estradiol or 5-α-dihydrotestosterone implants. At 9 to 11 weeks of age, autoimmune thyroiditis was induced by injection of mouse thyroglobulin plus adjuvant. Castration significantly increased antibody levels only in good responder male mice, an effect that was reversed by continuous administration of testosterone. Raising estrogen levels did not affect either antibody levels or the extent of cellular infiltration of the thyroid in female mice but significantly increased antibody levels in good responder males.