Estrogen receptor α and β expression in the vaginal walls and uterosacral ligaments of premenopausal and postmenopausal women
Presented at the combined 16th World Congress on Fertility and Sterility and the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, San Francisco, California, October 4–9, 1998.
Objective: To assess the expression of messenger RNA (mRNA) for estrogen receptors α and β in the vaginal walls and uterosacral ligaments of premenopausal and postmenopausal women.
Design: In vitro experiment.
Setting: Academic research environment.
Patient(s): Sixteen consecutively seen women who underwent hysterectomy.
Intervention(s): Samples of anterior vaginal walls and uterosacral ligaments were obtained during hysterectomy.
Main Outcome Measure(s): Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis for estrogen receptor mRNA.
Result(s): Messenger RNA transcripts for estrogen receptor α were present in all samples of vaginal walls (16/16) and uterosacral ligaments (16/16). Estrogen receptor β mRNA was detected in all samples of vaginal walls from premenopausal women (12/12) but in none of those from postmenopausal women (0/4). Estrogen receptor β mRNA was found in most samples of uterosacral ligaments from premenopausal women (10/12) and in some of those from postmenopausal women (2/4).
Conclusion(s): Estrogen receptors α and β were expressed in the vaginal walls and uterosacral ligaments of premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Estrogen receptor β was absent from the vaginal walls of postmenopausal women.
