The effect of sexual hormones on skin graft survival, thymic morphology and serum levels of glycoproteins and albumin in mice.

Inbred mice of the B10LP strain were injected subcutaneously over a period of 28 days with chloromadinone acetate, mestranol, both hormones together, and the carrier alone. Treatment with the gestagen chloromadinone acetate alone or in combination with mestranol caused a significant prolongation of the H-2 different skin graft survival. This was not seen after mestranol treatment alone. All the hormone-treated mice developed characteristic cysts in the thymic medulla and changes in the concentration of some plasma proteins, e.g. a fall of albumin level and a simultaneous increase of glycoprotein level. Therefore, it is necessary to look for such side-effects in humans also to prevent or to notice early alterations of immunological surveillance.