Estradiol and progesterone nuclear and cytosol receptors of hydrosalpinx.

Hydrosalpinx is usually associated with a low intrauterine pregnancy rate following restoration of tubal patency by microsurgery. The biochemical evaluation of pathologic tubes from 11 infertile patients showed the presence of estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) receptors at the cytosol and nuclear levels. The binding constants (Kd) for these specific proteins for E2 and Promegestone (R5020) were of the same magnitude as observed in normal tissue. Mean levels of E2 cytosolic and nuclear receptors and cytosolic P receptors of hydrosalpinx were significantly lower than those of a normal fallopian tube (P less than 0.05). No correlation between the severity of the histologic appearance of the tissue and the subcellular distribution of receptors was observed. We conclude that the decrease in the steroid receptor population of these damaged tubes could be counted as another factor to be considered in the poor intrauterine rate of the salpingoneostomy.