| Abstract: | Androgen (AR) and progesterone (PR) receptors were measured in resected prostate tissues of patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy. One group of patients received an anti-estrogen, tamoxifen (Tm 20 mg b.i.d.) for 10 days prior to prostate resection; a second group served as controls and were untreated. Plasma levels of Tm were 200-500 pmol/ml at the time of surgery. Statistically significant decreases (P less than 0.05) were found in cytosol PR (154 fmol/mg DNA +/- 33 SE in 14 Tm-patients vs 266 +/- 40 SE in 13 untreated patients) and in nuclear AR (103 fmol/mg DNA +/- 70 SE in 18 Tm-patients vs 257 +/- 62 SE in 17 controls). Cytosol AR was not significantly different in Tm-treated patients (257 fmol/mg DNA +/- 79 SE in 15 Tm-patients vs 346 +/- 130 SE in 17 controls, P greater than 0.6). Although receptor recycling is one of several possible explanations, these decreases in progesterone and nuclear androgen receptors in Tm-treated patients suggest that estrogen has a role in the biological regulation of steroid receptors in the human prostate. |
