Testosterone may impede immunity.
Medical Research News
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=6138
Published: Monday, 8-Nov-2004
Decreasing testosterone boosts immunity because testosterone helps control T-lymphocytes, the attack cells of the immune system, according to Mayo Clinic-led research in laboratory animals. The findings appear in the current edition of the Journal of Immunology. ...
T-lymphocytes are cells that are vital to controlling the body's immune response. "T cells," as they are usually called by scientists, are white blood cells that can fight against tumor cells and infection. Alternatively, T cells can help other immune cells known as "B cells" make antibodies to defend the body against certain bacterial and fungal infections, and possibly against cancer. ...
When testosterone is removed, the immune cells come back strong and aggressive, ready to attack. Says [Eugene Kwon, M.D., the Mayo Clinic urologist and immunology researcher], "They become twitchy, very reactive, and in this state they can, in fact, mediate a strong immune response -- which, as physicians, is just what we want."
fyi..