High Aromatase Expression in Uterine Leiomyoma Tissues of African-American Women

Ishikawa, Hiroshi; Reierstad, Scott; Demura, Masashi; Rademaker, Alfred; Kasai, Tokuzo; Inoue, Masakí; Usui, Hirokazu; Shozu, Makio; Bulun, Serdar E.

doi:10.1210/jc.2008-2327

Cited by 130 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Aromatase activity was shown to be present in human uterine leiomyomas and it has been suggested that it may contribute to the development of these tumors [13]. Sumitani et al [8] and Ishikawa et al [21 ]found higher levels of aromatase in leiomyoma when compared with adjacent myometrium.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protein Expression of Estrogen Receptors α and β and Aromatase in Myometrium and Uterine Leiomyoma

Grings¹,

Lora

Ferreira

et al. 2012

Gynecol Obstet Invest

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Background: Leiomyomas are the most common tumors of the female reproductive tract and a major public health problem. The mechanism of tumorigenesis is unknown, but evidence suggests that estrogens regulate cell proliferation and myoma growth. This effect might be due to different amounts of estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ) in normal and myoma tissues and overexpression of aromatase P450 in myomas. Purpose: To assess protein expression of ERs and aromatase in leiomyomas and normal adjacent myometrium of premenopausal women. Methods: Samples were collected from 12 premenopausal women admitted for abdominal hysterectomy due to fibroids. Results: The protein expression of ERα, ERβ and aromatase was similar in leiomyoma and normal myometrium (p = 0.239, p = 0.695 and p = 0.203, respectively). Conclusions: In this analysis of 12 matched leiomyoma and myometrial samples, the data do not support the theory that overexpression ERα, ERβ and aromatase in uterine leiomyomas compared to adjacent myometrium are the cause of tumor growth. The estrogens may exert their growth-stimulatory effects on leiomyomas intermediated by other elements, such as cytokines and growth or apoptosis factors. The effect of estrogen on the growth and development of fibroids is complex and far from being completely understood.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protein Expression of Estrogen Receptors α and β and Aromatase in Myometrium and Uterine Leiomyoma

Grings¹,

Lora

Ferreira

et al. 2012

Gynecol Obstet Invest

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“…Recent evidence suggests the presence of interindividual variation in the use of alternative promoters 18,19 and even usage differences between ethnic groups. 20 The author recently proposed the hypothesis that person-to-person variation in the use of alternative regulatory elements may extend to both gene promoters and enhancers. 21 This hypothesis predicts that, in presence of inter-individual variation in the use of redundant regulatory elements (eg, gene promoters and enhancers) and if functional SNPs are located inside those elements, the observed effects of these functional variants would be attenuated by a factor equal to the proportion of chromosomes in the population using their respective regulatory element.…”

Section: Alternative Use Of Redundant Enhancersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redundant enhancers and causal variants in the TCF7L2 gene

Ruiz-Narváez

2014

Eur J Hum Genet

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“…The underlying mechanism is the inhibition of the aromatase enzyme, which is the enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of androgenic substances into estrogens [41]. Recent reports have suggested that aromatase is expressed to a greater extent in uterine leiomyoma tissues of African-American women compared to Caucasian women, which may contribute to the higher incidence of ULMs in African American women [42]. Aromatase inhibitors have been shown to be effective against fibroids in limited short term studies with dosing regimens that included 2.5 mg per day of letrozole and 1 mg per day of anastrozole [43].…”

Section: Aromatase Inhibitorsmentioning

confidence: 99%