Relationship Between Age at Menarche and Contraceptive Use with Estrogen Receptor Alpha (ERα) Expression in Archived Uterine Leiomyoma Tissues

¹ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Malang (UNISMA).
² Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Islam Malang (UNISMA).
³ Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Islam Malang (UNISMA).

¹ Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Uterine leiomyoma is a benign tumor whose growth is strongly influenced by Estrogen, particularly through Estrogen Receptor Alpha (ERa). Risk factors such as age at menarche and contraceptive use are suspected to play a role in uterine leiomyoma; however, the direct relationship has not been widely studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between age at menarche and contraceptive use with ERa expression in uterine leiomyoma tissues of patients at RSI UNISMA. This study was an observational analytic study with a cross-sectional approach. The sample consisted of 21 uterine leiomyoma tissue specimens from patients who had undergone hysterectomy or myomectomy. Secondary data were obtained from medical records. ERa expression was analyzed using immunohistochemistry and manually quantified with ImageJ software. Data were analyzed using linear regression. A total of 66% of patients had a normal age at menarche (10-16 years), and 61% used hormonal contraceptives. The age at menarche and hormonal contraceptive use were not correlated with ERa expression (p > 0.05), although each factor contributed 1% and 6% to the variation in ERa expression. There is no correlation between age at menarche or contraceptive use and ERa expression in uterine leiomyoma tissues of patients at RSI UNISMA.