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 17β-estradiol. We performed real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction to determine mRNA levels of estradiol-α receptor (ER-α) and estradiol-β receptor (ER-β), 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-α were higher at 10^-8 estradiol; ER-β 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-α, ER-β, PRL, and A-R), when exposed to estradiol.