Estrogen & Testosterone RECEPTORS (in the Vulvar skin) ...

[Guest guest]

DeeTroll wrote: 1. Here's one I have on Estrogen and it's ''receptors'': August 2003 • Volume 189 • Number 2 Original article Lois J. Eva, MRCOG Allan B. MacLean, MD, FRCOG M.N. Reid, FRCOG Kerstin J. Rolfe, MPhil

W. Perrett, PhD Estrogen 'receptor' expression in vulvar vestibulitis syndrome OBJECTIVE: A pilot study was performed to investigate the relationship between vulvar vestibulitis syndrome and estrogen receptor (ER) expression.STUDY DESIGN: Women with a diagnosis of vulvar vestibulitis syndrome had tissue samples taken for vulvar estrogen receptor- expression and this was compared with a control group.RESULTS: The study group showed a 'significant decrease'' in estrogen 'receptor' expression, and

50% of the samples did 'not' exhibit 'any' receptor expression.CONCLUSION: There appears to be a subgroup of women with vulvar vestibulitis syndrome who exhibit abnormal estrogen receptor- expression. This may be helpful in explaining why some women are resistant to medical treatment and may allow treatment to be prescribed more effectively." ... Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003;189:458-61. END ============================================ Dee here: I don't think I'd call 50% a SUBGROUP, let alone they showed some with a 'significant' decrease in E. expression and 50% of those women with V pain had "NO" E receptor expression? DUH! And estrogen is SO essential not only for our skin but our whole body including the

brain. I myself wonder if many of these women were on birth control but unfortunately it didn't go into that only that they had V. pain. But check out the next one. AND...... here's one on the Testosterone Receptors..... 2. Androgen Insufficiency May Lead to Vulvar Vestibulitis and Genital Pain Yael Waknine Oct. 26, 2004 — Androgen insufficiency may result in diminished structure and function of the vestibular glands, including decreased androgen receptor expression, leading to vestibular adenitis and dyspareunia, according to the results of a preliminary study presented last week at the 11th World Congress of the International Society for Sexual and Impotence Research in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "Vestibulitis is a very common cause of genital pain among women, and there's a subgroup of women [in whom] it's probably related to the use of hormonal 'birth control pills' or hormonal manipulation," *Comment by Dee.... A study I also have from Jan

'06 showed that connection with birth control pills blocking testosterone, (and Estrogen I might add) Munarriz, MD, assistant professor of urology at Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, told Medscape. "That a small group of women responds to androgen replacement therapy." Of 3,000 women with female sexual dysfunction (FSD) evaluated by Dr. Munarriz and colleagues, 13% had dyspareunia, 66% had physical findings of vulvar vestibulitis syndrome (VVS), and 83% had concomitant androgen deficiency. To evaluate the possibility of a link between 'androgen deficiency' and vestibulitis, the investigators compared vestibular gland tissue excised from patients with

VVS (n = 22; mean age, 36 years; 32 sections) with vestibular tissues excised from female cadavers having had no history of vestibulitis (control subjects, n = 5; 9 sections). Patients with VVS had significant dyspareunia as evaluated using the pain domain of the Female Sexual Function Index (mean score, 0.9 ± 0.06; maximal score = 5). Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed significant inflammation (P = .00009) and squamous metaplasia in the vestibular specimens of patients with VVS compared with control subjects. Immunohistochemical staining with antibody anti-estrogen, progesterone, and anti-androgen showed significant decreases in androgen (P = .014) and progesterone (P = .00042) ''receptor'' expression in

vestibular tissue of patients with VVS compared with controls. "What we found is that the specimens from women who had vestibulitis had 'significant' inflammation, squamous metaplasia, and were completely 'depleted' of androgen 'receptors' — while the controls had no inflammation, and normal staining for androgens," noted Dr. Munarriz. "This makes us believe that there is a link between genital pain due to vestibulitis and androgens. "We believe that there's a subgroup of women, particularly young women, who as a consequence of being on the birth control pill have very low androgen or testosterone levels," said Dr. Munarriz, noting that

these women also tend to have a higher incidence of genital pain. "This may be one of the pathophysiologic mechanisms [explaining] why women on the pill get pain — because they lose their ability to express androgen receptors in the genital tissue," he said. "On the basis of this premise, it may be that in this subgroup of women genital pain can be effectively treated with hormones," concluded Dr. Munarriz, adding that future studies may evaluate the benefits of testosterone therapy in this population. The investigators report no pertinent financial conflicts of interest.ISSIR 11th World Congress: Abstract O74. Presented Oct. 20, 2004. Reviewed by D. Vogin, MD ====================================