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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
Imaging of Estrogen Receptor-α in Rat Pial Arterioles using a Digital Immunofluorescent Microscope
Published on: November 29, 2011
There are no estrogen and progesterone receptors in cerebral cavernomas: a preliminary immunohistochemical study
Ahmet H Kaya1, Aykan Ulus, Yasar Bayri
1Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Kurupelit, Samsun, Turkey. ahmethilmikaya@yahoo.com
Background:
Literature consistently mentions that pregnancy and hormonal therapy probably increase the bleeding rate and seizure expression of cerebral cavernomas. Either increased hormonal activity or embryogenesis related abundant expression of some growth factors such as VEGF, bFGF, and placental growth factor during pregnancy were proposed to initiate angiogenic process and vascular proliferation in cavernomas, thereby increasing their bleeding rate and seizure expression.
Methods:
To reveal whether estrogen and/or progesterone have direct effect on cerebral cavernomas, their receptor expressions were studied immunohistochemically in recently excised 12 cerebral cavernomas.
Results:
Study showed no expression of either estrogen or progesterone receptors in cerebral cavernomas even the staining worked well in positive control tissues of infiltrative ductal carcinoma.
Conclusions:
Aggressive behavior of cerebral cavernomas during pregnancy is a commonly proven observation and attributed to some hormonal effects. However, this effect seems not related to effect of estrogen or progesterone on cavernoma tissue via receptor binding.
