title: Expression and regulation of estrogen-converting enzymes in ectopic human endometrial tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the regulation of estrogen-converting enzymes in human ectopic endometrial tissue.
  
  
  METHODS
  Animal study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic medical center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty female nude mice with implanted human endometrial tissue.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two premenopausal women undergoing endometrial biopsy or hysterectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Human endometrial tissue was implanted into the peritoneal cavity of nude mice, and the effect of therapeutic drugs on transcription of steroid receptors and estrogen-converting enzymes was analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Transcript levels of steroid hormone receptors, 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 and 2, aromatase, and steroid sulfatase as well as proliferation rate were analyzed in the human ectopic endometrial tissue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Steroid receptors and estrogen-converting enzymes were expressed in the ectopic human endometrial fragments. Application of medroxyprogesterone acetate, dydrogesterone, danazol, and the aromatase inhibitor finrozole significantly inhibited aromatase transcription. In addition, danazol caused a significant decrease in transcription of steroid sulfatase, and finrozole, of 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 in parallel to a decrease in proliferation rate in the ectopic human endometrial tissue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pharmacological regulation of transcription of estrogen-converting enzymes in human endometrium cultured in nude mice may help to develop new therapeutic concepts based on local regulation of estrogen metabolism in endometriosis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy, University Hospital Essen, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fechner
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Husen
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thole
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gashaw
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kimmig
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Winterhager
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grümmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002828:Choristoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D004717:Endometrium / Q000201:enzymology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens