title: Glutathione peroxidase activity in endometrium: effects of sex hormones and cancer.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in endometrial tissue is regulated by sex hormones and to compare the GSH-Px activity of normal and cancerous endometrium. The localization of GSH-Px in human normal endometrium and endometrial cancer was determined immunohistochemically. GSH-Px activity was assayed in endometrial tissue obtained from women with endometrial cancer and age-matched controls, as well as in rat uterine tissue. GSH-Px immunoreactivity was localized in the glandular epithelium of normal human endometrium and reached a maximum in the late proliferative and early secretory phases of the menstrual cycle. In spayed rats, uterine GSH-Px activity was significantly increased by exogenous estrogen (P < 0.01) and significantly reduced by exogenous progesterone (P < 0.01). GSH-Px activity in endometrial cancer tissue was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that in endometrial tissue from age-matched healthy controls. Among endometrial cancer tissues, a significant increase in GSH-Px activity was associated with well-differentiated rather than moderately or poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (P < 0.01), with slight rather than marked myometrial invasion (P < 0.01), and with the presence of concurrent endometrial hyperplasia (P < 0.01). These results show that endometrial GSH-Px activity is regulated by sex hormones, being stimulated by estrogen and suppressed by progesterone, and that the level of GSH-Px activity in endometrial cancer tissue may be a significant prognostic factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohwada
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase