Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: Previous studies demonstrated that several sex hormone receptors were expressed in the eye. The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression and distribution of estrogen receptor and 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) type IV, which is responsible for oxidative transformation of 17ß-estradiol to estrone and provides protection against excessive amounts, in the bovine and monkey ciliary body. Methods: Immunohistochemical study was employed to investigate the expression of estrogen receptor and 17ß- HSD type IV. To detect 17ß- HSD type IV transcript in the ciliary body, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used. Results: In the bovine and monkey ciliary body, the staining of the anti-estrogen receptor antibody was distributed in nonpigmented epithelium, and was not detectable in pigmented epithelium. Vessels in the stroma were also stained. The expression of 17ß- HSD type IV was observed in nonpigmented epithelium. RT-PCR study revealed that the transcript of 17ß- HSD type IV was expressed in the monkey ciliary body. Conclusion: This study provides the evidence for the presence of estrogen receptor and 17ß- HSD type IV in the bovine and monkey ciliary body. Expression of estrogen receptor and 17ß- HSD type IV, which is the key enzyme inactivating 17ß-estradiol, suggests that estrogen may have important functions in the ciliary body.
Keywords: 348 ciliary body • 474 microscopy: light/fluorescence/immunohistochemistry • 476 molecular biology