Proliferation Of Uterine Leiomyoma Cells Research Articles

Estrogenic effects of organochlorine pesticides on uterine leiomyoma cells in vitro.

Although benign, uterine leiomyomas occur with high frequency and significant morbidity in reproductive-age women, and they present a significant health problem. Leiomyomas develop in the uterine myometrium and are sensitive to ovarian hormones, making them potential target sites for endocrine disruptors. Here we utilize cell lines derived from rat uterine leiomyomas to determine if a panel of 7 organochlorine pesticides have potential agonist activity in myometrial cells using cellular and molecular in vitro assays. The organochlorine pesticides investigated have been previously characterized as having agonist activity in other hormonally responsive tissues, but their effects have not been studied in uterine myometrial cells. In Eker rat leiomyoma-derived cells, HPTE, kepone, and the alpha isomer of endosulfan stimulated proliferation, an effect dampened by the antiestrogen ICI 182,780. In addition, these compounds stimulated transcription of the vitellogenin estrogen-response element via the ER in a transcriptional reporter gene assay and induced the expression of an endogenous estrogen-responsive gene, the progesterone receptor (PR). This contrasted with the agonist profile of methoxychlor, dieldrin, toxaphene, and endosulfan-beta. These compounds, unable to stimulate proliferation of uterine leiomyoma cells, did exhibit agonistic activity in these cells at the transcriptional level in the estrogen-sensitive reporter gene assay, and they were also able to upregulate PR message. These data demonstrate that organochlorine pesticides act as estrogen receptor agonists in Eker rat uterine myometrial cells, and they indicate a need for further investigation of the potential tissue-specific agonist activity of these pesticides and their role in the pathogenesis of uterine leiomyoma.

Suppression of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in uterine leiomyoma by gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (leuprolide acetate).

Cell proliferation and apoptosis in uterine leiomyoma were investigated during therapy with GnRH agonist (GnRHa). Patients with uterine leiomyomas were injected with 3.75 mg GnRHa (depot leuprolide acetate) at intervals of 4 weeks and underwent hysterectomy or myomectomy at the 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th, or 16th week of GnRHa therapy. Tissue sections of leiomyomas from these patients and from control patients (control patients received no GnRHa therapy) were stained with the Ki-67 antibody or by an in situ DNA 3'-end labeling method, and numbers of Ki-67 immunostained cells and DNA 3'-end-labeled cells per cm2 were examined as indices of cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. The number of Ki-67 immunostained cells/cm2 in leiomyomas at the 2nd week of the GnRHa therapy was comparable with that of control patients. However, it decreased to a level less than one forth that of control patients at the 4th week, and it remained at similar low levels at the 8th, 12th, and 16th week. The number of DNA 3'-end-labeled cells/cm2 in leiomyomas of control patients and in leiomyomas at the 2nd, 8th, 12th, and 16th weeks of GnRHa therapy were at low levels but, at the 4th week, was at an extremely high level (about 5 times more than that of control patients). The present results indicate that GnRHa therapy suppresses cell proliferation and causes a transient increase in apoptosis in uterine leiomyomas.