Hormone control of autoantibodies to calf thymus nuclear extract (CTE) and DNA in MRL-lpr and MRL-+/+ mice.

Because hormonal influences on autoimmune disease in MRL-lpr and MRL-+/+ mice have not been defined completely, we examined animals which had been castrated and implanted with the opposite sex hormone. Antibodies directed at non-DNA antigens in a calf thymus nuclear extract (designated CTE) and specific anti-DNA antibodies were increased in estrogen-treated males, testosterone-treated females, and sham-operated female controls compared to sham-operated males. Analysis by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation revealed that gonadal hormones exerted marked differences in the distribution and nature of circulating IgM anti-CTE antibodies. Although 19 S IgM was the predominant form of anti-CTE antibodies in experimental groups showing elevated anti-CTE responses, estrogen-treated male MRL-lpr mice expressed a large additional population of anti-CTE IgM antibody released by acid dissociation of apparently cryptic complexes. An unexpected additional finding was the presence of cryptic anti-CTE IgG (7 S) in all groups of MRL-lpr and MRL-+/+ mice, revealed only in sucrose gradient analysis under acid conditions. It is suggested that sex-related factors may account, in part, for apparent differences in levels of circulating autoantibodies observed in MRL mice by influencing the degree to which autoantibody populations exist in circulating complexes.