Influence of Androgen and Estrogen on Delayed Skin Test Reactivity to Candida albicans.

Recipient adult male CFW mice were passively sensitized to candida delayed skin test reactivity with splenic lymphoid cells from candida-vaccinated donor females. In recipient adult males that had been bilaterally gonadectomized as weanlings, before passive sensitization, reactivity was less than in the unilaterally gonadectomized controls. Adult males bilaterally gonadectomized as weanlings were treated with gonadal hormones during passive sensitization. 17beta-estradiol was found to decrease reactivity, whereas testosterone was found to increase reactivity. These data provide evidence that delayed skin test reactivity produced by female lymphoid cells is depressed by estrogen and is stimulated by androgen.