Sex differences in the regulation of experimentally induced autoantibodies in (NZB x NZW)F1 mice.

The ability to induce autoantibodies to erythrocytes in male and female (NZB × NZW)F₁ mice was examined. Female (NZB × NZW)F₁ mice were shown to produce significantly more autoantibody than the male (NZB × NZW)F₁ mice. The regulation of this experimentally induced autoantibody was studied by examining the ability of male and female (NZB × NZW)F₁ mice to generate antigen- specific suppressor cells. A sex difference was found in the ability to generate these suppressor cells. Male mice generated antigen-specific suppressor cells in response to rat RBC which were capable of suppressing the experimental induction of red cell autoantibodies whereas female mice were unable to generate these antigen-specific suppressor cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]