TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of estrogens and estrogen receptor signaling pathways in cancer and infertility
T2 - The case of schistosomes
AU - Botelho, Mónica C.
AU - Alves, Helena
AU - Barros, Alberto
AU - Rinaldi, Gabriel
AU - Brindley, Paul J.
AU - Sousa, Mário
N1 - Funding Information:
UMIB is funded by National Funds through FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology, under the “Fcomp-01-0124-FEDER-015893” project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - Schistosoma haematobium, a parasitic flatworm that infects more than 100 million people, mostly in the developing world, is the causative agent of urogenital schistosomiasis, and is associated with a high incidence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the bladder. Schistosomiasis haematobia also appears to negatively influence fertility, and is particularly associated with female infertility. Given that estrogens and estrogen receptors are key players in human reproduction, we speculate that schistosome estrogen-like molecules may contribute to infertility through hormonal imbalances. Here, we review recent findings on the role of estrogens and estrogen receptors on both carcinogenesis and infertility associated with urogenital schistosomiasis and discuss the basic hormonal mechanisms that might be common in cancer and infertility.
AB - Schistosoma haematobium, a parasitic flatworm that infects more than 100 million people, mostly in the developing world, is the causative agent of urogenital schistosomiasis, and is associated with a high incidence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the bladder. Schistosomiasis haematobia also appears to negatively influence fertility, and is particularly associated with female infertility. Given that estrogens and estrogen receptors are key players in human reproduction, we speculate that schistosome estrogen-like molecules may contribute to infertility through hormonal imbalances. Here, we review recent findings on the role of estrogens and estrogen receptors on both carcinogenesis and infertility associated with urogenital schistosomiasis and discuss the basic hormonal mechanisms that might be common in cancer and infertility.
KW - Cancer
KW - Estrogen receptor
KW - Infertility
KW - Schistosomiasis
KW - Schistosoma haematobium
KW - Schistosomiasis haematobia/complications
KW - Signal Transduction
KW - Humans
KW - Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/etiology
KW - Estrogens/metabolism
KW - Receptors, Estrogen/metabolism
KW - Animals
KW - Infertility/etiology
KW - Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/etiology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930483034&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pt.2015.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.pt.2015.03.005
M3 - Review Article
C2 - 25837311
AN - SCOPUS:84930483034
SN - 1471-4922
VL - 31
SP - 246
EP - 250
JO - Trends in Parasitology
JF - Trends in Parasitology
IS - 6
ER -
