本研究主要比較子宮頸甲、乙型動情素接受體於不同月經週期、停經期前後、正常和癌組織之訊息核糖核酸之表現。結果發現，子宮頸甲、乙型動情素接受體之訊息核糖核酸表現，於增殖、分泌期沒有差異。然而，即使乙型動情素接受體於停經期前後表現沒有差異；但是，甲型動情素接受體停經後卻呈有意義之消失。雖然，在跟正常組織比較下，甲、乙型動情素於癌組織之表現，都分別有一、二例呈現消失情形，但並未達到統計上的意義。本研究所得結論是，只有甲型動情素接受體牽涉到正常停經後子宮頸的變化，至於癌組織的變化可能都和兩種動情素接受體沒有關聯。
Objective: To detect changes in transcript expression for estrogen receptors alpha and beta in the uterine cervix, comparing premenopausal and postmenopausal status, different menstrual phases and carcinomatous tissues. Methods: Nineteen normal portions of cervical samples were obtained, one from each of twelve cases of uterine myoma and from each of seven cervical cancer; and seven carcinomatous samples, one from each of the seven cervical cancer. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the transcript expression of estrogen receptors alpha and beta in all samples. Nineteen normal samples were divided according to premenopausal and postmenopausal status and compared for estrogen receptor subtype mRNA expression. Thirteen normal premenopausal cervical samples were divided according to proliferative and secretory phases for comparison. In addition, mRNA expression of estrogen receptors alpha and beta for the seven carcinomatous samples was compared with those of their normal counterparts. Fisher's exact test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Comparing premenopausal and postmenopausal normal cervical samples, a statistically significant difference was demonstrated for the estrogen receptor alpha mRNA expression (P<0.05), but not for the receptor beta. For the normal premenopausal cervical samples, the transcript expression for each estrogen receptor subtype was not affected by menstrual phases. Further, no significant difference was revealed for transcript expression of estrogen receptors alpha and beta (P>0.05) comparing carcinomatous and normal portions from the cervical cancer samples. Conclusion: Only the absence of the estrogen receptor alpha in the cervical tissues correlates with postmenopausal status. Differential transcript expression for estrogen receptor subtypes is confirmed in the postmenopausal cervix, but is not implicated for cervical carcinogenesis.
