Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Medical Genetics, University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.
J Reprod Immunol. 2011 Dec;92(1-2):88-96. doi: 10.1016/j.jri.2011.06.103. Epub 2011 Sep 22.
Immunity and hormonal responses in the reproductive tissues of postmenopausal women are poorly understood. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), a multifunctional antimicrobial protein expressed at mucosal surfaces, is thought to play a key role in infectious and inflammatory contexts. The aim of this study was to measure SLPI production along the female reproductive tract in postmenopausal women with and without hormonal treatment. We additionally quantified estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and progesterone receptor A (PRA) in these tissues. Expression of SLPI was decreased in the vagina and ectocervix of women under hormonal treatment. Endocervical ERα mRNA expression was increased while this did not reach significance at the protein level. SLPI expression in the endometrium was not influenced by hormonal treatment. We observed attenuated ERα expression in the cervix and endometrium of hormonally treated women, whereas vaginal expression was increased. PRA expression was augmented in the cervix and endometrium and unchanged in the vagina. Taken together, our results indicate that hormonal responses and receptor expression are differentially regulated in vaginal tissue compared with the cervix and endometrium.
绝经后女性生殖组织中的免疫和激素反应知之甚少。分泌白细胞蛋白酶抑制剂 (SLPI) 是一种在黏膜表面表达的多功能抗菌蛋白，被认为在感染和炎症情况下发挥关键作用。本研究旨在测量绝经后接受和未接受激素治疗的女性生殖道中 SLPI 的产生。我们还定量了这些组织中的雌激素受体 alpha (ERα) 和孕激素受体 A (PRA)。在接受激素治疗的女性的阴道和宫颈中，SLPI 的表达减少。虽然在蛋白质水平上没有达到显著性，但子宫内膜中的 ERα mRNA 表达增加。激素治疗对子宫内膜中的 SLPI 表达没有影响。我们观察到，接受激素治疗的女性的宫颈和子宫内膜中 ERα 表达减弱，而阴道表达增加。PRA 表达在宫颈和子宫内膜中增加，而在阴道中不变。总之，我们的研究结果表明，激素反应和受体表达在阴道组织中与宫颈和子宫内膜的表达不同。
