The cyclic pattern of the immunocytochemical expression of oestrogen and progesterone receptors in human myometrial and endometrial layers: characterization of the endometrial-subendometrial unit

M Noe, G Kunz, M. Herbertz, G. Mall, G. Leyendecker
Human Reproduction · 1999 · vol. 14(1) , pp. 190–197 · doi:10.1093/humrep/14.1.190 · PMID:10374119 · W2128541030
Other OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 84 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

The subendometrial myometrium exhibits cyclic estrogen and progesterone receptor expression parallel to the endometrium, unlike the outer uterine wall, suggesting functional differentiation based on origin.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Immunocytochemistry of oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression of the whole uterine muscular wall and the endometrium was performed in order to obtain morphological and functional insights into the regulation of cyclic uterine peristalsis, which is confined to the endometrium and the subendometrial myometrium and serves functions such as rapid and sustained sperm transport. The study revealed that the subendometrial myometrium or stratum subvasculare with a predominantly circular arrangement of muscular fibres exhibits a cyclic pattern of ER and PR expression that parallels that of the endometrium, whereas the outer portion of the uterine wall composed of the stratum vasculare and supravasculare, which represents the bulk of the uterine musculature, does not exhibit a cyclic pattern of ER and PR expression. According to ontogenetic and phylogenetic data from the literature, the outer myometrium is of non-paramesonephric origin with functions confined to parturition, while the inner myometrial layer together with the glandular epithelium and the stroma of the endometrium is of paramesonephric origin with various functions during the cycle in addition to those during pregnancy and parturition. The inner quarter of the stratum vasculare adjacent to the stratum subvasculare constitutes a transitional zone in that the cyclicity of receptor staining becomes, in radial direction, gradually less expressed. Morphologically this zone corresponds to the inner part of the stratum vasculare where its muscular fibres blend with those of the stratum subvasculare.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

MeSH descriptors

Endometrium Menstrual Cycle Myometrium Receptors, Estrogen Receptors, Progesterone Adult Endometrium Female Humans Immunohistochemistry Menstrual Cycle Middle Aged Myometrium Postmenopause Postmenopause Receptors, Estrogen Receptors, Progesterone

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (38)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T20:58:57.924351+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-10-19T06:34:38.229974+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK