Studies of testosterone-induced involution of the bursa of Fabricius

The present investigation deals with the effect of testosterone on each of the tissue components of the bursa of Fabricius: the endodermal epithelium, the mesenchyme, and the hemopoietic stem cells. Tissue combination experiments between testosterone-treated endoderm and normal mesenchyme and vice versa have shown that the androgen damages irreversibly the bursal epithelium. The latter is not seeded by hemopoietic stem cells and cannot undergo follicle formation when treated with high doses of testosterone. This occurs even if it is associated with a nontreated bursal mesenchyme. On the contrary, associations of testosterone-treated mesenchyme with normal endoderm result in normal bursa histogenesis. By using an original test of viability for lymphoid cells based on the application of the quail-chick marker system, we demonstrate that disappearance of hemopoietic cells in the endoderm results from their expulsion from the bursa and not from their death in situ. The conspicuous effect of testosterone on the bursa of Fabricius can be related to the levels of androgen receptors found in the organ. Typical cytosol androgen receptors are demonstrated in both bursal endoderm and mesoderm, although the amount in the former is higher. The concentration of binding sites in the bursa is >10 times higher than that in other organs such as lung and small intestine whose development is not affected by testosterone, contrasting with glucocorticosteroid receptor (measured by labeling with dexamethasone) found in the same concentration in all tissues.