Expression of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor in adenomyosis

Objective:To investigate the estrogen receptor(ER) and progesterone receptor(PR) expression in the development of adenomyosis.Methods:Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the specimens from 54 cases with eutopic or ectopic endometrial tissues of adenomyosis and another 36 specimens from the normal endometrium were included as controls for examining the expression of ER and PR.Results:The positive expression and intensity of ER and PR protein in ectopic tissues were found significantly lower than that in both eutopic endometrial tissues and control group(P0.01;P0.05).Expression intensity of PR protein in eutopic endometrial tissues showed statistical difference as compared with the controls(P0.05),but the expression of ER and PR suggested moderate positive correlation with ectopic endometrial tissues of adenomyosis(rs=0.622,P0.01).Conclusion:The downregulation of ER and PR may be one of the factors due to the insensitivity to the therapy of sexual hormone in adenomyosis.