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Progesterone inhibits arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation

Nature Medicine volume 3, pages 1005–1008 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Mortality from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is lower in premenopausal women than in age-matched men. It is also lower in postmenopausal women who take estrogens and progestins together rather than estrogens alone. Progesterone receptors were detected in human and rat aortic smooth muscle cells in vivo and in vitro (in subculture). We examined the effect of progesterone on proliferation of smooth muscle cells, important constituents of atherosclerotic plaques. Progesterone at physiologic levels inhibited DNA synthesis and proliferation in these cells in a dose-dependent manner, and pretreatment with the progesterone receptor antagonist RU486 blocked inhibition. Cyclin A and E messenger RNA levels decreased after progesterone treatment but those of cyclin B and D1 did not change. This cell cycle-dependent inhibition of arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation by progesterone may represent a mechanism for the hormone's protective effect against atherosclerosis.

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Author notes

  1. Wen-Sen Lee

    Present address: Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Taipei Medical College, 250 Wu-Hsin Street, Taipei, 110, Taiwan, Republic of China

  2. Justin A. Harder

    Present address: Department of Neurology/Alzheimer Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th Street, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 02129, USA

  3. Masao YoshizuMi

    Present address: Department of Geriatrics, University of Tokyo Hospital, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, 113, Tokyo, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiovascular Biology Laboratory, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Wen-Sen Lee, Justin A. Harder, Masao YoshizuMi, Mu-En Lee & Edgar Haber

  2. Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Wen-Sen Lee, Masao YoshizuMi, Mu-En Lee & Edgar Haber

  3. Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Mu-En Lee

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Lee, WS., Harder, J., YoshizuMi, M. et al. Progesterone inhibits arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation. Nat Med 3, 1005–1008 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0997-1005

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