Objective:Joint pain increases after menopause with more than 50% of woman suffering from arthralgies. Since pain and inflammation of joints originate from synovial tissue, we aimed to discover whether estrogen receptors are present in the human synovia.
Methods:This in vitro study was performed on samples of human synovial tissue, obtained from pre-(n = 8) and postmenopausal woman (n = 11) and men (n = 5) following surgery due to traumatic lesions. Fresh synovial tissue specimens were assessed for the localization as well as the presence of estrogen receptor-α (ERα) and estrogen receptor-β (ERβ) by means of immunohistochemistry, as well as Western blot and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively.
Results:ERβ protein and mRNA were found to be equally and highly expressed in synovial stroma and lining cells of all explants independent of sex or menopausal status. In contrast, weak ERα staining was localized in the synovial lining cells in only three of 24 explants. ERα protein was found to be weakly expressed in three of ten explants. ERα mRNA was found with highly variable amounts in seven of ten explants.
Conclusion:In view of our observation that ERβ but not ERα is expressed regularly in normal human synovia in high amounts, we propose that estrogen could play a significant role in synovial membrane function in women and men, operating preferably via the ERβ isoform.
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