[Sex hormones receptor expression and the activity of the argyrophilic proteins of the nucleolar organizer region in the intact myometrium cells and in uterine leiomyoma].

The authors have analyzed the expression of progesterone receptor (PR) and estrogen receptor alpha (ER) in comparison with the argyrophil proteins content in the nucleolar organizer region (NOR) in 106 samples of the intact myometrium and in 106 tumourous nodes of the simple leiomyoma. PR expression was shown in 100% cases of the intact myometrium and simple leiomyoma, while ER expression was far less common, 37 +/- 4.2 and 23.5 +/- 4.1%, respectively. There were much fewer AgNOR proteins in the intact myometrium than in the leiomyoma (3.1 +/- 0.5 and 5.6 +/- 0.4, respectively). Moreover, the number of AgNOR proteins was shown to depend on the presence of ER: when smooth muscle cells were ER-positive, there were fewer argyrophilic granules than when they were absent in both intact myometrium and simple leiomyoma.