The Role of Gonadal Steroids in Arachidonate-Induced Mortality in Mice

Abstract

Female mice are significantly more resistant than male mice to intravenous arachidonate. Estradiol treatment of castrated males, but not females or intact males, provides protection. Testosterone treatment, on the other hand, increased the mortality rate of the intact or castrated males but had no significant effect on the responsiveness to arachidonate in female mice. Progesterone pretreatment did not modify the mortality rate in any of the groups studied. Another steroid, cortisone, is much more protective than the ovarian steroids. In both males and females, intact or castrated, exogenous cortisone greatly increased the ability to withstand an arachidonate injection. These data suggest that gonadal and cortical steroids act at a critical step in the tissue response to arachidonate and alter its ultimate effect on morbidity and mortality.