Abstract
The most significant functional characteristic of macrophages is phagocytosis. The macrophage system is involved in antibody formation, the inactivation of bacterial endotoxins, resistance to traumatic and hemorrhagic shock, the prevention of irradiation sickness, hematoclasia and bile pigment formation, and the metabolism of steroids, lipids, cholesterol, iron, and proteins. This chapter discusses the effects of steroid hormones on macrophage activity. The cyclic alterations in the levels of the steroid hormones, which occur during the reproductive cycle, are accompanied by cyclic alterations in the phagocytic activity of sinusoidal macrophages and in the number of free macrophages in the endometrium. During the reproductive cycle there are two peaks of increased sinusoidal macrophage activity, one during the follicular phase and the other during the luteal phase, and these peaks are accompanied by a prolonged invasion by macrophages into the endometrium. The follicular phase of the cycle is under the influence of pituitary follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) whereas the luteal phase is under the influence of pituitary luteinizing hormone (LH).
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