Department of Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Science, Soonchunhyang University Graduate School, Asan 31538, Korea.
Soonchunhyang Institute of Medi-bio Science (SIMS) and Institute of Tissue Regeneration, College of Medicine, Soon Chun Hyang University, Cheonan 31151, Korea.
Mol Cells. 2017 Sep 30;40(9):677-684. doi: 10.14348/molcells.2017.0026. Epub 2017 Aug 25.
Postmenopausal atrophic vagina (PAV) is the thinning of the walls of the vagina and decreased lugae of the vagina. PAV is caused by decreased estrogen levels in postmenopausal women. However, the harmful effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have resulted in considerable caution in its use. Various estrogen agonist treatment options are available. Vitamin D is influences the regulation of differentiation and proliferation of various cells, especially tissues lining stratified squamous epithelium, such as the vaginal epithelium. In this study, we hypothesized that vitamin D could provide an alternative and a safe treatment option for PAV by promoting the proliferation and differentiation of the vaginal epithelium. Thirty six patients were enrolled in this case-control study. Vitamin D associated proteins in a vitamin D and sex hormone treated vaginal epithelial cell line as well as normal and PAV tissues were measured. To confirm of cell-to-cell junction protein expression, cell line and tissue studies included RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry staining, and immunoblot analyses. The expression of cell-to-cell junction proteins was higher in women with symptoms of atrophic vagina tissue compared to women without the symptoms. Vitamin D stimulated the proliferation of the vaginal epithelium by activating p-RhoA and Erzin through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). The results suggest that vitamin D positively regulates cell-to-cell junction by increasing the VDR/p-RhoA/p-Ezrin pathway. This is the first study to verify the relationship of the expression of RhoA and Ezrin proteins in vaginal tissue of PAV.
绝经后萎缩性阴道（PAV）是指阴道壁变薄和阴道皱襞减少。PAV 是由于绝经后女性雌激素水平下降引起的。然而，激素替代疗法（HRT）的有害影响导致其使用受到相当大的谨慎。有各种雌激素激动剂治疗选择。维生素 D 影响各种细胞，尤其是分层鳞状上皮组织（如阴道上皮）的分化和增殖的调节。在这项研究中，我们假设维生素 D 通过促进阴道上皮细胞的增殖和分化，可以为 PAV 提供替代和安全的治疗选择。这项病例对照研究纳入了 36 名患者。测量了维生素 D 和性激素处理的阴道上皮细胞系以及正常和 PAV 组织中的维生素 D 相关蛋白。为了确认细胞间连接蛋白的表达，细胞系和组织研究包括 RT-PCR、免疫组织化学染色和免疫印迹分析。与没有症状的女性相比，有萎缩性阴道组织症状的女性的细胞间连接蛋白表达更高。维生素 D 通过激活维生素 D 受体（VDR）来激活 p-RhoA 和 Erzin，从而刺激阴道上皮细胞的增殖。研究结果表明，维生素 D 通过增加 VDR/p-RhoA/p-Ezrin 通路来积极调节细胞间连接。这是第一项验证 PAV 阴道组织中 RhoA 和 Ezrin 蛋白表达关系的研究。
