Androgen receptor expression in the cervix
of androgen-treated female-to-male transsexuals: association with morphology
and chain-specific keratin expression.
van der Kwast TH, Dommerholt HB, van
Vroonhoven CC, Chadha S.
Department of Pathology, Erasmus University,
Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract [Full Text] [PDF]
Abstract
Long-term androgen treatment of female-to-male
transsexuals is associated with morphological changes of the ectocervical
epithelium. This study was designed to correlate the histological changes of
the ectocervix to modulation of androgen receptor (AR) and keratin
expression. We evaluated AR expression by immunohistochemistry using
monoclonal antibody F39.4 specific for the N-terminal domain of the human
AR. In the cervix of five of six transsexuals, the epithelium of the
ectocervix displayed areas of increased cellularity lacking complete
maturation into flattened squamous epithelial cells.
This morphological change was associated
with the acquisition of keratins 8 and 19 by all cell layers. In the normal
ectocervix, these keratins are characteristic of the basal cell layer. The
morphologically altered ectocervix of transsexuals displayed an intense AR
expression in all cell layers, which contrasts with the selective, faint
nuclear staining of the basal cells of the ectocervix of both premenopausal
and postmenopausal women. Additionally, long-term androgen treatment led to
consistently increased AR expression by the stromal cells of the endocervix
and ectocervix.
Our data imply that the morphological
changes in the transsexual ectocervix reflect an androgen-mediated arrest of
maturation. The observed increase in AR expression by the stromal cells of
the ectocervix of androgen-treated transsexual females provides an example
of androgen-mediated upregulation of AR expression in human tissues.
Citation:
Int J Gynecol Pathol 1994 Apr;13(2):133-8 an article published on the
Internet by PubMed <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/>
