Hemic and Immune Systems Commons^™

Androgen-Induced Immunosuppression, Debra Ann Weyant

Dissertations and Theses

It is well established that females are more immunocompetent than males as evidenced by higher humoral antibody titers, lowered susceptibility to infection, and more efficient graft rejection.

Furthermore, females also exhibit a much higher incidence of autoimmune disease. These observations have led investigators to believe that the male hormonal environment may play a key role in the regulation of immune response. For this reason, this study is concerned with the expression of autoimmunity and of immune function in the mouse.

This study included the New Zealand Black (NZB) mouse strain, as an animal model for human SLE, as well as …

The Immune Elimination Of Senescent Human Rbc, Edward Marshall Alderman

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Human erythrocytes (RBC) from whole blood were separated according to their specific densities by centrifugation on a polyvinyl-pyrrolidine-coated colloidal silica matrix (Percoll) into four major subpopulations. By indirect immunofluorescence array, the most dense RBC subpopulation with specific density >1.110 g/ml (3-5% of total RBC), was positive for membrane-bound immunoglobulin; the remaining, less dense subpopulations were negative. IgG was present on 85-95%, IgM on 28-32%, and IgA on 15-20% of the RBC in the most dense subpopulation. When these immunoglobulins were radiolabeled in situ, eluted, and used in binding studies with autologous RBC fractions subjected to thermal and/or enzymatic treatment with …