Kb. Wilson et al., PRESENCE OF A VARIANT FORM OF THE ESTROGEN-RECEPTOR IN PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS FROM NORMAL INDIVIDUALS AND LUPUS PATIENTS, Journal of reproductive immunology, 31(3), 1996, pp. 199-208
Estrogen may participate in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythem
atosus (SLE) via its intracellular receptor. To investigate the presen
ce of various isoforms of the estrogen receptor (ER) in SLE we isolate
d RNA from mononuclear cells of lupus patients and normal controls. Us
ing RT-PCR we were able to identify both the full length wild-type for
m and an isoform of the ER which precisely lacks exon V in both patien
t and normal individuals. Our results, although limited, suggest that
normal individuals can express both the wild-type and truncated versio
n at the same time, whereas lupus patients only express either the wil
d-type or the truncated ER. This finding may lead to a better understa
nding of the reasons for the prevalence of lupus in females and of the
estrogenic effects on SLE disease activity.