However, the splenic numbers of both transitional (T1, T2, T3) and mature marginal zone and follicular B cells, as well as splenic B1 cells, were increased (Fig. 1e–j). An expansion of BAFF-producing fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) in spleen after castration may be coupled to reduced splenic noradrenaline levels, as an α-adrenergic agonist decreases FRC number in vitro. In this study, we sought to define the mechanism by which testosterone regulates splenic B cell number in males. Recent studies have found that in addition to cholesterol transport, StAR proteins in LCs are implicated in DAG buildup in lipid droplets, which may affect DAG signaling mediated cellular function . Dhh is derived from Sertoli cells, and its receptor is expressed on LCs and induces differentiation of FLC precursors by maintaining high levels of SF1. These hormones regulate spermatogenesis by participating in the regulation of spermatogenic cells or cells around spermatogenic cells . Male reproductive health, particularly the regulation of spermatogenesis, is controlled by a complex combination of factors, including luteinizing hormone (LH) and its effects on Leydig cells (LCs). So while higher endogenous levels of testosterone may down-regulate some aspects of immune function (e.g. cytokine response to T-cell mitogens), that does not mean that testosterone is generally immuno-suppressive; indeed cytokine responses to B-cell mitogens were largely unaffected by testosterone. First, those studies used exogenous testosterone administration, which while an excellent way to isolate the impact of testosterone on cytokines may not be ecologically valid, as many aspects of physiology other than just androgens are modified when androgens naturally increase. Testosterone can be lowered by decreasing hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal production, or by increasing aromatization of testosterone to estrogen (Spratt et al. 2006). Indeed, studies find decreases in testosterone following illness and tissue injury (e.g (Christeff et al. 1988; Muehlenbein and Bribiescas 2005; Spratt et al. 1993; Spratt et al. 2008)). If men with higher testosterone have a decreased cytokine response to viral infection, then reducing levels of testosterone following infection would be an optimal response. Thus testosterone appears to selectively downregulate the most energetically expensive forms of immune activation, which is expected if testosterone serves an adaptive immuno-modulatory function, especially in energy-limited subsistence populations. From an energetic perspective, T-cell mediated immune activation may be more costly than B-cell mediated immune activation due to this need to produce many cells (Lochmiller and Deerenberg 2000). However, AR is capable of transmitting testosterone signals by at least 2 mechanisms, the classical and non-classical pathways. After Src-mediated phosphorylation of β-catenin and N-cadherin, the two proteins diffuse away from each other, the cell linkage is lost and mature sperm can be released 54–56. Increased association with the c-Src and FAK kinases after testosterone depletion also decreases the integrity of the α6β1-integrin/lamininγ3 connection . Information regarding direct testosterone effects on genes and proteins required for meiosis has been lacking. Thus, testosterone acts to maintain the dynamic BTB by facilitating reassembly of BTB components on the basal side of the transiting spermatocyte after the dismantling of old BTB structures. They found that LHRKO mice treated with testosterone, although highly infertile, exhibited breakthrough spermatogenesis at 12 months of age, suggesting that testosterone can induce LC maturation in aging mice . Moreover, it was discovered that the stem cells developed into cells that could produce testosterone at weeks 2–3 when the spermatogenic tubules were cultured with DHH agonists without LH . Precocious stimulation with LH alone or in conjunction with FSH increased the mean amount of HSD3B-positive rhesus cells by 20–30-fold, according to a study on pubertal LCs in rhesus monkeys . Proteomic studies have shown that testosterone may affect sperm meiosis by affecting proteins involved in cell stress and apoptosis, RNA splicing and processing, and DNA repair . Through a series of pathways, this ultimately promotes spermatocyte meiosis, maturation, release, formation, and maintenance of the blood–testis barrier and the development of spermatogonial stem cells. Testosterone has a negative feedback effect on hypothalamic GnRH synthesis, but since GnRH neurons do not express androgen receptors, it is hypothesized that the effects of testosterone may be transmitted through other neurons, such as kisspeptin neurons . Preliminary evidence suggests that low testosterone levels may be a risk factor for cognitive decline and possibly for dementia of the Alzheimer's type, a key argument in life extension medicine for the use of testosterone in anti-aging therapies. Attention, memory, and spatial ability are key cognitive functions affected by testosterone in humans. For women with PCOS, hormones like birth control pills can be used to help lessen the effects of this increased level of testosterone. Some of these effects may decline as testosterone levels might decrease in the later decades of adult life. Adult testosterone effects are more clearly demonstrable in males than in females, but are likely important to both sexes. It activates genes in Sertoli cells, which promote differentiation of spermatogonia. The male brain is masculinized by the aromatization of testosterone into estradiol, which crosses the blood–brain barrier and enters the male brain, whereas female fetuses have α-fetoprotein, which binds the estrogen so that female brains are not affected. Although estrogens also influence BCR signaling by decreasing calcium flux in B T1 and B T2 cells (141), estrogens and PRL also regulate antibody duration. Furthermore, the hormonal microenvironment contributes to choosing the fate of transgenic R4A autoreactive B cells since estrogen favors the formation of MZ B cells, and PRL favors the development of FO B cells. Moreover, PRL increases the expression of CD40, B7-2, and MHC II in B cells; CD40-L in T cells; and B7-2 and CD44 in dendritic cells and monocytes, through which PRL can be activated directly and indirectly from dendritic cells to B cells (142, 143). Estrogens increase the percentage of CD8+CD122+ cells, CD19+CD5+ CD1dhigh cells, CD19+ TIM-1+ cells and CD19+ CD138+ CD44high B cells in both males and females but increase the percentage of CD19+ PD-L1high B cells in females only (180). In ovariectomized C57BL/6-EAE females, estrogen treatment improved the disease score and the percentage of regulatory B and T cells. Chronic estrogen treatment has been shown to positively regulate the microbiota of C57BL/6-EAE mice and increase the frequency of CD19+CD5+CD1dhigh regulatory B cells in the spinal cord and mesenteric lymph nodes. It has been reported that the interaction of estrogens in B cells occurs through ERα and G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) (177). It was proven that estrogens exert their protective effect on B cells; for example, in B-cell-deficient mice (μMT-/-), the protective effect was lost (176). Estrogens have been shown to slow the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in female C56BL/6 mice that underwent MS modelling with pertussis toxin.