Objective: To determine whether messenger RNA for the gonadal LH/hCG receptor is present in human endometrium with the use of reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.
Design: In vitro experiment.
Setting: Academic medical center.
Patient(s): Premenopausal women who were not receiving hormonally active medications and who were undergoing hysterectomy for uterine leiomyomas, menorrhagia, pelvic pain, or uterine prolapse.
Intervention(s): Tissue from hysterectomy specimens was processed for RNA and treated with deoxyribonuclease where appropriate, and RNA was reverse-transcribed to complementary DNA.
Main outcome measure(s): An appropriately sized band after reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, followed by sequencing to confirm the results.
Result(s): A primer pair that spanned the extracellular domain was unable to amplify receptor complementary DNA from human endometrial tissue. For a primer pair that spanned transmembrane regions 2-6 of the receptor and was contained wholly in exon 11, a 552-base pair fragment was amplified successfully in 19 of 25 human endometrial samples.
Conclusion(s): The traditional gonadal LH/hCG receptor does not appear to be present in human endometrial tissue. The presence of a portion of the transmembrane part of the molecule suggests that human endometrium may express a truncated or variant form of the receptor.