Estrogens and the pathophysiology of the biliary tree

Figure 1 Additive effect of estrogens (EE) and insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF1) in the modulation of cholangiocyte proliferation. EE and IGF1 play additive effects on cholangiocyte proliferation by acting at both receptor and post-receptor levels IGF1 and EE induce, in cholangiocytes, additive increase of phosphorylated ERK1/2.

Figure 2 Immunohistochemistry of ER-α and ER-β in cholangiocytes in different human pathologies, ^bP < 0. 01 , ^dP < 0.01 vs other columns.

Figure 3 Immunohistochemistry for ER-α and ER-β. Biopsies of human primary biliary cirrhosis showing an intense positivity for both ER-α and ER-β in the proliferating bile ducts. Orig. magn., x 20.

Figure 4 Immunohistochemistry for ER-α and ER-β. Biopsies of human cholangiocarcinoma showing an intense positivity for both ER-α and ER-β. Orig. magn., x 20.