Title: The possible role of high estriol levels in pregnancy
Abstract: Estriol production and excretion rise much more than estradiol or estrone in pragnancy. The ratio estriol/estradiol progressively increases in the course of human gestation. Although the mechanism is well understood there is still no understanding of the role played by such changes. Taking into account that estriol has inherent antiestrogenic properties and that the hypothalamus of the fetus and newborn can be experimentally demaged by the adminstration of estradiol, it is postulated that estriol could protect those neural structures due to its higher affinity of binding to the specific estrogen receptor sites. Since pregnant diabetics frequently have low levels of free plasma estriol while free plasma estradiol and estrone remain normal, it is suggested that these patients offer a good model to test the hypothesis. If their daughters have a higher incidence of menstrual disorders then this might be due to a lower degree of protection of their hypothalamus by estriol during their gestation. If this is the case then it might be justifiable to administer estriol in pregnancy whenever its values are below normal.
Publication Year: 1975
Publication Date: 1975-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 4
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