Abstract
The observations that testosterone might be immunosuppressive, form the basis for the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH). According to ICHH only high-quality individuals can maintain high levels of testosterone and afford the physiological cost of hormone-derived immunosuppression. The animal and human studies that attempted to support the ICHH by precisely defined impairment of immunity associated with high testosterone levels are inconclusive. Furthermore, human studies have used only selected immune functions and varying testosterone fractions. This is the first study examining the relationship between multiple innate and adaptive immunity and serum levels of free testosterone, total testosterone, DHT and DHEA in ninety-seven healthy men. Free testosterone and marginally DHT levels were positively correlated with the strength of the influenza post-vaccination response. Total testosterone and DHEA showed no immunomodulatory properties. Our findings did not support ICHH assumptions about immunosuppressive function of androgens. In the affluent society studied here, men with higher levels of free testosterone could afford to invest more in adaptive immunity. Since the hormone-immune relationship is complex and may depend on multiple factors, including access to food resources, androgens should be treated as immunomodulators rather than implicit immunosuppressants.
Highlights
According to evolutionary hypotheses, the sex hormone-dependent morphological traits controlled by sexual selection might signal an individual’s biological condition
Most of the aforementioned reports are inadequate to forming conclusions regarding the general effects of testosterone on male immunity, which is necessary to confirm the validity of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH) assumption
Any defect in the immune function leads to inadequate protection and poses a significant risk to survival
Summary
The sex hormone-dependent morphological traits controlled by sexual selection might signal an individual’s biological condition. One important component of biological condition which regulates an individual’s survival is the ability to cope with infectious diseases, and this function depends on immune system effectiveness It is well-known that steroid hormones control the development of primary and secondary sexual traits and are involved in all reproductive functions. Experimental human studies that attempt to measure the changes in various immune parameters after testosterone administration; (3) correlational studies measuring the relationship between serum/saliva hormone concentrations and selected immune functions. To define the role of testosterone in immunocompetence, it would be necessary to investigate various immune functions, both innate and adaptive Another problem is that male traits that are under sexual selection and may signal immune quality are testosterone-dependent. Animal studies that observed immunosuppressive role of testosterone, suggests AR-independent pathway of this suppression[33], the role of the AR-mediated pathway in immune modulation was confirmed in studies on androgen receptors knockout mice (ARKO mice)[15]
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