Progressing Towards a Perfect Estrogen

For the Woman Who Thought She had Everything, Gynos Trying To Build That Perfect Estrogen

A Rose may be a Rose by any other name, not so An Estrogen is not necessarily an Estrogen. And it’s pointed out in the January2011  issue of Menopause that there are two forms of the ‘ER’ or Estrogen receptor. We have Estrogen receptor alpha and beta: ER-α and ER-β. ER-β is the receptor of the ovary, lung, the bowel, and our brain. ER-α predominates in the breast, the bones, the heart and the brain axis including the pituitary. Actually the compound estradiol, the bioidentical estrogen we talk about in many of our blog posts about menopause, is that perfect compound binding to both the receptors. Scientists have exploited the partial action potential and created a class you know well that only binds mostly alpha receptors. Those medications are tamoxifen, which we use for breast cancer treatment and prevention; and raloxifene (Evista) we use for osteoporosis treatment and breast cancer prevention. The less a molecule binds to the receptor you don’t want it to bind to, the fewer side effects it will have that you don’t want. Understanding the potential for growing polyps or precancerous changes from the compounds you are being prescribed is very important . Newer compounds like bezedoxifene, which we have worked with in our practice, and lasofoxifene are coming that have unique and more ‘fine tuned’ properties that make the ‘perfect estrogen.’ The newest contender has a number, not a name, ICI 182 876. Whichever estrogen we build, an alpha or beta type estrogen, it will always effect the ovary, because the ovaries have alpha nd beta receptors on their surface. So growing a cyst from these types of compounds are still possible, unless, here's an idea, build a better ovary? Nah, like Ms. Mary Poppins, we're practically perfect in every way, already.