The effect of estradiol on the expression of estrogen, progesterone, androgen, and prolactin receptors in human peritoneal fibroblasts.

PurposeTo assess the ability of fibroblasts isolated from normal peritoneum and adhesion tissues to express various hormone receptors when cultured with exogenous estradiol.MethodsPrimary cultures of fibroblasts from normal human peritoneum and adhesion tissue were treated with zero (control), 10(-10), 10(-8), and 10(-6) M concentrations of 17beta-estradiol. We performed real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction to determine mRNA levels of estradiol-alpha receptor (ER-alpha) and estradiol-beta receptor (ER-beta), progesterone receptor (P-R), androgen receptor (A-R), and prolactin receptor (PRL-R) in the two types of fibroblast cultures.ResultsIn the control groups, P-R and A-R were higher in normal than in adhesion fibroblasts. In adhesion cells, ER-alpha were higher at 10(-8) estradiol; ER-beta were higher at 10(-6) M estradiol; P-R remained constant; A-R showed a higher expression at 10(-10) and 10(-8) M estradiol; and PRL-R showed an exponential increase at 10(-10) M estradiol.ConclusionsThe inflammatory-like changes manifested by adhesion fibroblasts enhance the anabolic hormones receptor expression (ER-alpha, ER-beta, PRL, and A-R), when exposed to estradiol.