Hormone replacement therapy reverses the decrease in natural killer cytotoxicity but does not reverse the decreases in the T-cell subpopulation or interferon-gamma production in postmenopausal women
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1Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Objective:
To investigate the immunologic deviations of postmenopausal women before and after hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Design:
Prospective study.
Setting:
University teaching hospital.
Patient(S):
Seventeen postmenopausal women (study group) and 17 women of reproductive age (control group).
Intervention(S):
Continuous usage of E(2) valerate 2 mg/d and medroxyprogesterone acetate 5 mg/d in postmenopausal women in the study group.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Immunophenotyping with flow cytometry, cytokine production with and without mitogen stimulation of the peripheral mononuclear cells, and a natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity test against K562 target cells by the (51)Cr-release assay were performed in the control group and in the study group before, 1 month after, and 6 months after HRT.
Result(S):
NK cytotoxicity, interferon-gamma production, and the T-cell subpopulation were significantly decreased, and the subpopulations of CD3(+)CD25(+) and CD3(+)HLA-DR(+) were increased in the study group before HRT when compared with those in the control group. After HRT was given for 6 months, however, the NK cytotoxicity increased significantly in the postmenopausal women to a value similar to that of the control group.
Conclusion(S):
Women after menopause are prone to impaired immune responses. Nevertheless, some of the impairment can be restored after HRT.
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