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Variations in Estrone Sulfatase Activity in Human Leukocytes

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Montserrat deM. Fencl, PhD., Reproductive Endocrinology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.

Peripheral blood leukocytes isolated from men and women were studied for their capacity to metabolize estrone (E₁) sulfate. Fresh human leukocytes (granulocytes and mononuclear cells) were incubated in phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, containing [³H]E₁S for 1 h at 37 C. The samples were extracted with chloroform for measurement of the [³H]E₁ formed, and the results were corrected for nonenzymatic hydrolysis. The mean E₁ sulfatase activity in leukocytes isolated from normal women in the follicular phase of their cycle was 75% higher than that during the luteal [1840 ± 179 (±SE) vs. 1048 ± 101 fmol E₁ µg protein ^–1 h^–1; P < 0.004] and higher than that in normal men (875 ± 123; P < 0.002), but was not different from that in menopausal (1349 ± 151) or hirsute women (1700 ± 222). In pregnant women, the mean leukocyte E₁ sulfatase activity was significantly lower (861 ± 147) than that in nonpregnant women in the follicular phase (P < 0.003). These results suggest that progesterone may modulate Ei sulfatase activity, whereas estrogens do not.

^* Present address: Montreal General Hospital, 1650 Cedar Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1A4 Canada.

Received March 10, 1987.

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