Stimulatory and inhibitory effects of estrogen and antiestrogen on uterine cell division.

Acute administration of 17 beta-estradiol or the antiestrogen nafoxidine to immature rats produces quantitatively similar responses in the uterine stroma and myometrium, although the responses to nafoxidine occur at slightly later times. Both the hormone and drug cause nuclear translocation of equivalent amounts of estrogen receptor in these two cell types, although receptor translocation is slower with nafoxidine, and nuclear receptor levels remain elevated for an extended time. Based upon labeling and mitotic indices, however, the response of the luminal epithelium to a maximum dose of nafoxidine is much lower than that produced by estradiol, although nafoxidine treatment causes massive hypertrophy of luminal epithelial cells and causes nuclear translocation of estrogen receptors in this cell type. If nafoxidine is administered 30 min after administration of estradiol, cell division in the luminal epithelium is inhibited. Furthermore, multiple injections of estradiol itself within a 24-h period decrease cell division in the luminal epithelium relative to controls receiving a single injection of the hormone. These results indicate that estradiol and the antiestrogen can have both inhibitory and stimulatory effects on the luminal epithelium and that cell division in different uterine cell types can be differentially affected.