绝经后退行性脊柱滑脱椎体软骨终板内雌激素受体表达与青年女性的差异

目的：探讨雌激素受体（ER）在绝经后退行性脊柱滑脱（DS）软骨终板内的表达及其意义。方法：用RT-PCR方法检测绝经后DS与绝经前年轻女性正常腰椎（N）的软骨终板内ER mRNA的表达；Western blot方法检测绝经后DS与N的软骨终板内ER蛋白质的表达；用免疫组织化学法（Envision法）检测绝经后DS与N的软骨终板内ER的分布和表达，测定绝经后DS患者血液中雌激素浓度；分析雌激素、ER和DS之间的关系。结果：ER mRNA的表达量在绝经后DS的软骨终板中较N明显下降（P〈0．05）；绝经后DS的软骨终板中ER蛋白质的表达量较N明显下降（P〈0．05）；免疫组织化学结果显示ER在绝经后DS的软骨终板中仅少量表达，在N的软骨终板中表达量较强；绝经后DS患者血液中雌激素浓度明显下降。结论：女性在绝经后体内雌激素下降，软骨终板中ER表达量较N显著下调，可能是引起绝经后女性DS高发的原因之一。

Disparity of the expression of estrogen receptor in cartilaginous endplate between patients with postmenopausal degenerative spondylolishesis and young women

Objective To investigate the expression pattern and significance of estrogen receptor(ER) in cartilaginous endplate of patients with postmenopausal degenerative spondylolishesis(DS).Methods RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of ER mRNA in cartilaginous endplate of postmenopausal DS and before-menopausal young female lumbar vertebra(N).The expression of ER protein in cartilaginous endplate of postmenopausal DS and N were measured by Western blot.Immunohistochemistry(Envision method) was carried out to examine the location and expression of ER in cartilaginous endplate of postmenopausal DS and N,detect the estrogen concentration in blood of the patients,then the relationships among the estrogen,the expression pattern of ER and DS were analyzed.Results The expression of ER mRNA in cartilaginous endplate of postmenopausal DS was obviously lower than in cartilaginous endplate of N(P<0.05).Comparing with the N,the expression of ER protein increased significantly in cartilaginous endplate of postmenopausal DS(P<0.05).Only low expression of ER was detected in cartilaginous endplate of postmenopausal DS,but the expression was much higher in N.Comparing with the young women,the estrogen concentration of the postmenopausal patients in blood was obviously low.Conclusions The blood estrogen concentration of the patients is obviously low after menopause.The expression of ER in cartilaginous endplate of postmenopausal DS obviously down-regulates compareing with the N,implying its possible role in the pathogenesis,pathology and development of degenerative spondylolishesis.