AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 233, Issue 1 59-R65, Copyright © 1977 by American Physiological Society
Hormonal control of neutrophil chemotactic activity in the rat vagina
T. W. Jungi, H. O. Besedovsky, E. Sorkin and M. Schardt
A sexual-hormone-dependent neutrophil chemotactic factor(s), operative
under physiological conditions, is described. Rat vaginal washouts were
shown to be both chemotactic and chemokinetic for rat neutrophils in vitro,
whereas macrophages were not attracted. Peak activity was observed at the
end of estrus and preceded maximal neutrophil infiltration in the vagina.
In order to mimic these events, gonadectomized animals were treated with
estradiol for a week. They showed a similar peak of chemotactic activity
30-36 h after estradiol withdrawal, accompanied by a massive neutrophil
accumulation. These data suggest that a decrease in estradiol level permits
the expression of the chemotactic signal. There was no evidence for
chemotaxis and/or migration inhibitors before and during estrus or during
long-term estradiol treatment of gonadectomized rats. Induced neutrophil
accumulation in the peritoneal cavity and chemotactic responsiveness of
these cells in vitro were similar in all stages during the estrus cycle.
Estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and hydrocortisone neither promoted
nor significantly inhibited the neutrophil migratory behavior over a wide
range of concentrations. Our experiments suggest that the periodic
neutrophil accumulation in the rat vagina after estrus is triggered by
locally expressed chemotactic mechanisms that are controlled by sexual
hormones. The data provide the first evidence that hormonal changes can
control chemotactic factors and thus indirectly control cell migration.
