Anti-inflammatory effects of estradiol on human blood leukocytes.

Abstract

Abstract Effects of estradiol and related steroids on some parameters of leukocyte function and metabolism in vitro were investigated. Human blood leukocytes, incubated with estradiol for 1 hour before the addition of live staphylocci, ingested the same number of bacteria as did control leukocytes. The normal increases in oxygen consumption and in oxidation of glucose-1-C 14 to CO 2 after phagocytosis, however, were reduced in the presence of estradiol or progesterone. An additive effect was observed when both hormones were present. Cells incubated with estradiol had diminished granule lysis after phagocytosis, whereas when progesterone and estradiol were present, granule lysis appeared to be augmented. Differences in the stimulation of glucose-1-C 14 oxidation after phagocytosis were noted in two studies in which cells from men and women were compared. Leukocytes from men had an average 18-fold increase in the production of CO 2 after phagocytosis, whereas leukocytes from women had only a 13-fold increase. Similarly, lekuocytes obtained from women during pregnancy had a reduced production of CO 2 after phagocytosis as compared with leukocytes from the same women after delivery. These observations suggest that changes in the hormonal environment may modify certain responses of leukocytes to inflammatory stimuli.