Expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in endometrium and peritoneal endometriosis: an immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization study

Fujishita A, Akira Fujishita, A Fujishita, Paul K. Nakane, Nakane PK, P K Nakane, T Koji, Takehiko Koji, Koji T, Masuzaki H, H. Masuzaki, Hideaki Masuzaki, R O Chavez, Chavez RO, Raul Ortega Chavez, Yamabe T, T Yamabe, Tadayuki Ishimaru, T. Ishimaru, Ishimaru T
Fertility and sterility · 1997 · vol. 67(5) , pp. 856–864 · doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(97)81397-0 · PMID:9130890 · W1972550545
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 66 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study used immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to investigate the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors in both the endometrium and peritoneal endometriosis tissue.

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

Abstract

ObjectiveTo clarify the role of ovarian steroids in the development and progression of endometriosis, estrogen receptors (ERs) and progesterone receptors (PRs) were localized by immunohistochemistry, and ER messenger RNA (mRNA) was detected by in situ hybridization in the uterine endometrium and in normal and altered pelvic peritoneum.DesignRetrospective and prospective study.SettingNagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki, Japan.Patient(s)A retrospective study of 61 formalin-fixed uterine endometria and normal and altered pelvic peritonea from patients suffering from various gynecologic diseases was conducted. In addition, in 22 fresh frozen tissue specimens, ER mRNA expression was evaluated prospectively.Main outcome measure(s)In formalin-fixed tissues, ER and PR were localized immunohistochemically. The results of immunohistochemical staining were scored from 0 to 4, depending on the signal intensity and frequency of positive cells. In fresh frozen specimens, ER mRNA expression was assessed by nonradioactive in situ hybridization using thymine-thymine dimerized oligonucleotide probes.ResultsThe highest score of ERs and PRs was observed in the epithelial and stromal cells of the normal uterine endometrium at the early proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle. The ER and PR scores declined throughout the secretory phase. In typical endometriotic lesions, the ER and PR scores were constantly high independent of the menstrual cycle. The expression pattern of ER mRNA was mostly in parallel with that of ERs. In typical endometriosis, ERs and PRs were found in both glandular epithelial cells and their surrounding stromal cells. Expression of ER mRNA was found in typical endometriotic peritonea and in pelvic peritoneum with columnar epithelial cells, but not in normal pelvic peritoneum (mesothelium). Estrogen receptors and PRs were negative in mesothelium, but were positive in the nuclei of fibroblasts in the connective tissue.Conclusion(s)We demonstrated the expression of ERs, ER mRNA, and PRs in the columnar cells in pelvic peritonea and typical endometriosis, but not in normal mesothelium. These results suggest that endometriosis may originate from the columnar cells with ERs and PRs in the pelvic peritoneal lining.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometrium Peritoneum Receptors, Estrogen Receptors, Progesterone Endometriosis Endometrium Epithelium Epithelium Female Humans Immunohistochemistry In Situ Hybridization Menstrual Cycle Peritoneum Prospective Studies Receptors, Estrogen Receptors, Estrogen Receptors, Progesterone Receptors, Progesterone

Citation neighborhood

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. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (28)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-08-02T06:10:09.037253+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:10:52.568893+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK