Ieda Millas; Flávio Richeti; Carla Sant’Anna Correa; Mirna Duarte Barros; Rodrigo Nishihara Jorge & Carlos Alberto Longui

Estrogen receptors (ER) have been identified in human nasal mucosa, but its physiologic and pathologic impacts are not totally established. ER have been demonstrated in nasal mucosa by several authors, mainly by immunohistochemical method in nasal mucosa samples surgically removed. The present study aimed to quantify ERα and ERβ mRNA concentration by using an absolute quantitative real-time PCR in cells from nasal mucosa smear of women under oral contraceptive therapy. Nasal epithelium smear samples were collected from 110 patients divided in two groups: 55 women who present regular menstrual cycle without using contraceptives and 55 women who present regular menstrual cycle and have been using oral contraceptives for more than 3 months. All the patients answered a rhinitis symptoms questionnaire. The current study showed the potential usefulness of nasal turbinate mucosa cell sourcing, collected through swab, for extracting useful RNA for gene expression. We have identified the predominant expression of ERα isoform in a ratio 10-15 times higher compared to ERβ isoform. There is a tendency for positive correlation between the ERb isoform and the rhinitis severity score.

KEY-WORDS: Estrogen receptors; Rhinitis; Nasal mucosa; RT-PCR

MILLAS, I.; RICHETI, F.; CORREA, C. S. A.; BARROS, M. D.; JORGE, R. N. & LONGUI, C. A. Estrogen receptor mRNA determined by quantitative real-time pcr in the nasal mucosa of women taking oral contraceptives. Int. J. Morphol., 39(4):1147-1152, 2021.