ESTROGEN-RECEPTORS IN THE HUMAN MALE BLADDER, PROSTATIC URETHRA, AND PROSTATE - AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL-STUDY

The distribution and quantity of estrogen receptors (ERs) in the human male bladder, prostatic urethra and the prostate were studied in eigh t males with recurrent papillomas of the bladder or monosymptomatic he maturia (median age 61 years), 14 men undergoing transurethral resecti on due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (median age 70 years), and nine men undergoing cystectomy due to malignant tumour of the bladder (med ian age 70 years). In the first group of patients, biopsies for immuno histochemical examination were obtained from the bladder vault, bottom , both side-walls, the trigone area, and the mid-portion of the prosta tic urethra, and in the second group from three locations of the prost atic urethra (bladder neck, mid-portion and veramontanum). In the thir d group, tissue specimens were taken from the vault of the bladder, pr ostatic urethra, and the prostate, for immunohistochemical as well as biochemical analysis. In the first group, ERs were found in three out of eight specimens of the prostatic urethra, and in one of these, ERs were confined to periurethral glands. ERs could not be demonstrated in any of the bladder-biopsies. In the second group, ERs were not found in the bladder neck, but were seen in four preparations from the veram ontanum and in two from the midportion of the urethra. ERs were locate d in the urothelium and periurethral glands. In the third group, ERs w ere seen immunohistochemically in the prostatic urethra (two cases) an d the prostatic stromal tissue (two cases). ERs could be demonstrated in the bladder neither by immunohistochemistry nor biochemically. Bioc hemically, ERs were demonstrated in small amounts in one specimen of t he prostatic urethra in the cytosolic and nuclear fractions, and in fo ur cases in the prostatic cytosolic and in two cases in the nuclear fr action. Our findings suggest that the content of ERs in the lower urin ary tract of elderly males is low. No ERs could be demonstrated in the bladder, but in the prostate and prostatic urethra, they may be found in the prostatic stroma and in urothelium, the lamina propria and per iurethral glands.