Glycine Max (L.) Merr isoflavone gel improves vaginal vascularization in postmenopausal women.

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the effects of isoflavones from Glycine max (L.) Merr (soy) used topically as a vaginal gel on the induction of vascularization of the vaginal tissue in postmenopausal women.Study design: A placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trial was conducted with 22 postmenopausal women, randomly allocated for treatment with Glycine max (L.) Merr isoflavone 4% vaginal gel daily for 12 weeks or with placebo gel for the same period.Main outcome measure: Vaginal microbiopsies were collected before and after the 12-week treatment. Immunohistochemistry analyses were performed to provide a blood vessel count per field in the vaginal tissue, pre and post intervention.Results: The isoflavone group exhibited a significant increase in blood vessels per field relative to baseline, whereas the placebo group showed no difference compared to baseline. There was a significant difference in the increase of the number of blood vessels between the isoflavone and placebo groups.Conclusion: The results showed that local administration of Glycine max (L.) Merr isoflavone gel promoted a significant improvement in the number of blood vessels in the vaginal tissue of postmenopausal women.

Effects of drospirenone/estradiol on steroid receptors and Bcl-2 in the postmenopausal endometrium.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of drospirenone with 17ß-estradiol on the histology and expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and of Bcl-2 protein, in endometrium of postmenopausal women. METHOD: Forty postmenopausal women, including controls, participated in this study evaluating oral hormone replacement treatment combining 2 mg/day of drospirenone with 1 mg/day of 17ß-estradiol administered for a 24-week period. The effect on the endometrium was assessed by histology and the apoptosis marker Bcl-2. The immunoexpression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors in the endometrium was also measured. RESULTS: No increase in endometrial thickness was evident after either treatment, although endometrial histology was atrophic in most biopsies. The drospirenone/estradiol group showed higher expression of ER and PR in glandular epithelium compared to stroma, but the Bcl-2 protein was more immunoreactive in stroma than in glandular epithelium. Compared to controls, drospirenone/estradiol users showed higher immunoexpression of ER, PR and Bcl-2 in both glandular epithelium and endometrial stroma. CONCLUSION: A 24-week course of drospirenone with 17ß-estradiol resulted in low proliferation and was shown to lead to atrophic endometrium. The novel progestogen drospirenone seems to have favorable effects on the endometrium of postmenopausal women due to its pro-apoptotic action in glandular epithelium.