In an attempt to establish novel ap...

In an attempt to establish novel approaches for treating immune dysfunction in trauma victims, surgeon are exploring ways of modulating cardiovascular functions and immune answers with sex steroid hormones, according to an Oct 27 1998 pres release from the American corporation of Surgeons. The release states that researchers at Rhode Island Hospital betimes will begin a phase 1 clinical trial in which flutamide, a medication that temporarily arrests the testosterone receptor, will be administered to 100 adult males, ages 18 to 65 who have had rigid injuries.

According to the release, men are more susceptible than women to serious infection following traumas and hemorrhaging. Studies indicate that testosterone abridges immune response by inhibiting the release of proinflammatory cytokines. These cytokines locate the immune system in motion, and reciprocally stimulate the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines, which generally confine down the immune system. Estrogen has the opposite result allowing women to maintain immune function better than men The release states that the clinical trial will track the men's clinical consequences looking at hospital length of stay, long duration of time spent in the intensive care unit, and the number of infections sustained while in the hospital.

The researchers also have been investigating the use of estrogen and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)--the popular over-the-counter steroid hormone--to improve immune function. Studies have shown that DHEA can improve immune function in somewhat advanced in life patients and in male animals exposeed to severe bacterial or viral infection. The researchers terminate that DHEA appears to function similarly to estrogen and state that the objective of further studies would be to access the use of DHEA in activating the immune combination of parts to form a whole before surgery. The release hints that DHEA possibly could inexpensively resolve into the incidence of postsurgical infections.

Researchers Begin Clinical Trial to trial Ways of Improving Immune Function After Trauma (pres release, Orlando, Fla: American society of Surgeons, Oct 27, 1998) 1-5

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