Estradiol and progesterone receptors in estrogen-primed endometrium

Estradiol and progesterone receptor levels were measured in endometrial samples obtained from patients who were on different dosages of estradiol therapy and from women in the late proliferative phase of a normal menstrual cycle. Samples of blood were collected at the time of biopsy, and the levels of estradiol, estrone, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone were measured in the serum. The patients were divided into five groups. The first group (controls) consisted of patients in their late proliferative phase. The patients in groups two, three, and five were receiving estradiol in various doses by pellet therapy, along with a cyclic progestogen each month. The women in the fourth group also had implantation of estradiol pellets but failed to take the progestogen as advised. In our series, the levels of cytoplasmic estradiol and progesterone receptors were markedly elevated in the no progestogen group compared to the controls. There was no significant difference in the levels of the receptors in the groups which took the progestogen as advised.