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Servicio de Endocrinología, Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, Paseo de San Vicente 58-182, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
¹ Servicio General de Citometría and Servicio de Endocrinología, Departamento de Medicina, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain

(Requests for offprints should be addressed to J J Corrales; Email: corrales{at}usal.es)

Androgens are considered to have immunomodulatory effects but their cellular mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. In the present study we prospectively analyzed the serial effects of androgen-replacement therapy on both the distribution of peripheral blood lymphocytes, monocytes and dendritic cells as well as on the production of interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inflammatory cytokines by circulating monocytes and CD33 myeloid, CD16 and plasmacytoid dendritic cell subsets, the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in type-2 diabetic men with partial androgen deficiency. Analyses were performed before therapy and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment with 150 mg testosterone enanthate every 2 weeks in a group of 13 type-2 diabetic men. Our results show for the first time that testosterone-replacement therapy is associated with a reduction or complete abrogation of spontaneous ex vivo production of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF by APCs. Meanwhile, the in vitro production of inflammatory cytokines by these cells after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide plus recombinant human interferon- remained unchanged, suggesting that APCs preserve their constitutive machinery to produce inflammatory cytokines under androgen treatment. These results confirm and extend previous observations about the anti-inflammatory effects of androgen therapy on APCs in a new, previously unexplored model of androgen deficiency; namely, aging type-2 diabetic men. A decreased production of inflammatory cytokines by APCs might have important consequences for sex differences in susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, inflammatory response to injury and atheromatosis.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D Kapoor, S Clarke, R Stanworth, K S Channer, and T H Jones The effect of testosterone replacement therapy on adipocytokines and C-reactive protein in hypogonadal men with type 2 diabetes Eur. J. Endocrinol., May 1, 2007; 156(5): 595 - 602. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]