ENDOMETRIAL SEX STEROID-RECEPTOR EXPRESSION IN WOMEN WITH MENORRHAGIA

Objective To investigate the oestrogen and progesterone receptor distr ibution in endometrium from reproductive age and perimenopausal women with and without menorrhagia. Design A comparative observational study . Subjects Forty-five women with objective menorrhagia (27 categorised as reproductive age and 18 as perimenopausal) and a control group of 44 women (31 reproductive age and 13 perimenopausal) with menstrual bl ood loss of less than 80 ml per period. Main outcome measures Oestroge n receptor and progesterone receptor semi-quantitative immunostaining scores. Results Comparison of control and menorrhagic endometrium in t his study (whether from reproductive age or perimenopausal subjects) f ailed to demonstrate any major differences in either sex steroid recep tor mean immunostaining score. The results demonstrated a great degree of variability in sex steroid receptor immunoreactivity between indiv iduals. Irrespective of clinical group, significant increases in immun ostaining were demonstrated in the proliferative phase of the cycle fo r immunoreactivity of oestrogen receptor in glands (P = 0.0005), and s tromal (P = 0.002) compartments of endometrium and progesterone recept or immunoreactivity in glands (P = 0.009). Progesterone receptor immun ostaining in the stromal compartments did not significantly decline (P = 0.06) in the secretory phase. Conclusions Endometrium from women wi th objective evidence of menorrhagia is indistinguishable in terms of sex steroid immunoreactivity from endometrium of women with normal mon thly blood loss. This pattern of sex steroid receptor immunostaining p attern was maintained into the perimenopausal years.