Endometrial hormone receptors in women with dysfunctional uterine bleeding.
OBJECTIVE
The objective was to study the estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in endometrium of women with dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB) as compared to women with normal menstrual cycles.


METHODS
In this study, 30 patients and 20 controls were selected. Transvaginal ultrasound and endometrial sampling for histology and ER and PR estimation immunohistochemically was carried out for all the subjects. Student's t-test and linear correlation was used for statistical analysis. Their response to treatment was assessed by clinical follow-up.


RESULTS
Endometrial thickness and ER and PR levels in DUB patients were significantly higher. In cases showing hyperplastic endometria, ER and PR levels were higher than patients with normal histology. In contrast to hyperplastic tissue, steroid receptor levels decrease in hyperplastic tissue containing atypia.


CONCLUSIONS
Altered endometrial morphology and increased receptor levels in DUB patients suggest that unopposed estrogen effect could have an important role in the pathogenesis of DUB. Cases of DUB, which showed atypical hyperplasia, may have a down-regulation of these receptors and could be a precursor lesion to carcinoma and thus do not respond to medical therapy by hormones.
Department of Histopathology, Maulana Azad Medical College, 110002 New Delhi, India. samhita_bh@yahoo.co.in
Samhita
S
Chakraborty
Nita
N
Khurana
Jai B
JB
Sharma
K Uma
KU
Chaturvedi
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004717:Endometrium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000378:metabolism*
D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone