Estrogen receptor α and β expression in uterine leiomyomas from premenopausal women

To measure messenger RNA levels of estrogen receptor (ER) α and β in uterine leiomyomas, normal myometrium, and endometrium. Prospective study. University hospital. Seventeen premenopausal women who underwent surgery due to symptomatic uterine leiomyomas. None. Quantitative RT-PCR was used for evaluation of ERα and ERβ expression. Results were normalized to total cellular DNA. Expression of ERα and ERβ did not differ between leiomyomas and myometrium; however, in both tissues, expression of ERα was significantly higher than that of ERβ. Estrogen receptor-α expression in endometrium was lower than in leiomyomas and myometrium. In leiomyomas and endometrium, correlations between expression of ERα and ERβ were found. Uterine leiomyomas, myometrium, and endometrium display distinct patterns of ER expression.