Hormone and Immune Response, with Special Reference to Steroid Hormone 3. Sex Steroid Effect on T-cell Differentiation

Effect of sex steroids on differentiation of mouse thymic lymphocytes (T cells) was investigated. The result obtained are as follows: (i) the receptors for estrogen and progestin are both in the thymic cytosol, and they are mainly located in the reticuloepithelial cells in which thymulin (FTS) is also localized, (ii) estrogen and thymulin affect thymic weight and T cell differentiation, especially helper T cell subset, and (iii) estrogen may play a role through its receptor on thymic reticuloepithelial cells to produce thymulin which in turn influences T cell function.