Estrogen Metabolism

An interesting aspect of the observations concerning estrogens and autoimmunity relates to estrone metabolism and  to  the  16α-hydroxylated  metabolite-a mitogenic estrogen that appears to increase estrogen-induced autoimmunity-in relation to levels of the 2-hydroxylated metabolite, which is not mitogenic or immunogenic. A number of studies on patients with RA and SLE have demonstrated elevated levels of the mitogenic 16α- hydroxyestrone ( 16α-OHE), likely contributing to the cellular proliferative state observed in these autoimmune diseases.