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

PURPOSE: To assess the ability of fibroblasts isolated from normal peritoneum and adhesion tissues to express various hormone receptors when cultured with exogenous estradiol. METHODS: Primary 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. RESULTS: In 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. CONCLUSIONS: The 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.