Estriol (E3), also spelled oestriol, is a steroid, a weak estrogen, and a minor female sex hormone. It is one of three major endogenous estrogens, the others being estradiol and estrone. Levels of estriol in women who are not pregnant are almost undetectable. However, during pregnancy, estriol is synthesized in very high quantities by the placenta and is the most produced estrogen in the body by far, although circulating levels of estriol are similar to those of other estrogens due to a relatively high rate of metabolism and excretion. Relative to estradiol, both estriol and estrone have far weaker activity as estrogens.
Estrogen receptors (ERs) are a group of proteins found inside cells. They are receptors that are activated by the hormone estrogen (17β-estradiol). Two classes of ER exist: nuclear estrogen receptors, which are members of the nuclear receptor family of intracellular receptors, and membrane estrogen receptors (mERs), which are mostly G protein-coupled receptors. This article refers to the former (ER).
3α-Androstanediol also known as 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol and sometimes shortened in the literature to 3α-diol, is an endogenous steroid hormone and neurosteroid and a metabolite of androgens like dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
16α-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone is an endogenous metabolite of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Both 16α-OH-DHEA and its 3β-sulfate ester, 16α-OH-DHEA-S, are intermediates in the biosynthesis of estriol from dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). 16α-OH-DHEA has estrogenic activity.
Estetrol (E4), or oestetrol, is one of the four natural estrogenic steroid hormones found in humans, along with estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3). Estetrol is a major estrogen in the body. In contrast to estrone and estradiol, estetrol is a native estrogen of fetal life. Estetrol is produced exclusively by the fetal liver and is found in detectable levels only during pregnancy, with relatively high levels in the fetus and lower levels in the maternal circulation.
3β-Androstanediol, also known as 5α-androstane-3β,17β-diol, and sometimes shortened in the literature to 3β-diol, is an endogenous steroid hormone and a metabolite of androgens like dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT).
17α-Estradiol is a minor and weak endogenous steroidal estrogen that is related to 17β-estradiol. It is the C17 epimer of estradiol. It has approximately 100-fold lower estrogenic potency than 17β-estradiol. The compound shows preferential affinity for the ERα over the ERβ. Although 17α-estradiol is far weaker than 17β-estradiol as an agonist of the nuclear estrogen receptors, it has been found to bind to and activate the brain-expressed ER-X with a greater potency than that of 17β-estradiol, suggesting that it may be the predominant endogenous ligand for the receptor.
16α-Iodo-E2, or 16α-iodoestradiol, is a synthetic, steroidal, potent estrogen with slight preference for the ERα over the ERβ that is used in scientific research. The KD of 16α-iodo-E2 for the ERα is 0.6 nM and for the ERβ is 0.24 nM, a 4-fold difference in affinity, whereas estradiol is considered to have similar affinity for the two receptor subtypes. Unlike the case of the much weaker estriol (16α-hydroxyestradiol), 16α-iodo-E2 is considered to be equipotent with estradiol in terms of estrogenic activity. Radiolabeled [16α-125I]iodo-E2 has been employed in imaging to study the estrogen receptor.
2-Hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE2), also known as estra-1,3,5(10)-triene-2,3,17β-triol, is an endogenous steroid, catechol estrogen, and metabolite of estradiol, as well as a positional isomer of estriol.
16β,17α-Epiestriol, or 16,17-epiestriol, also known as 16β-hydroxy-17α-estradiol, as well as estra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,16β,17α-triol, is a minor and weak endogenous steroidal estrogen that is related to 17α-estradiol and estriol. Along with estriol, 16β,17α-epiestriol has been detected in the urine of women during the late pregnancy stage. It shows preferential affinity for the ERβ over the ERα.
16α-Hydroxyestrone (16α-OH-E1), or hydroxyestrone, also known as estra-1,3,5(10)-triene-3,16α-diol-17-one, is an endogenous steroidal estrogen and a major metabolite of estrone, as well as an intermediate in the biosynthesis of estriol. It is a potent estrogen similarly to estrone, and it has been suggested that the ratio of 16α-hydroxyestrone to 2-hydroxyestrone, the latter being much less estrogenic in comparison and even antiestrogenic in the presence of more potent estrogens like estradiol, may be involved in the pathophysiology of breast cancer. Conversely, 16α-hydroxyestrone may help to protect against osteoporosis.
2-Hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1), also known as estra-1,3,5(10)-trien-2,3-diol-17-one, is an endogenous, naturally occurring catechol estrogen and a major metabolite of estrone and estradiol. It is formed irreversibly from estrone in the liver and to a lesser extent in other tissues via 2-hydroxylation mediated by cytochrome P450 enzymes, mainly the CYP3A and CYP1A subfamilies. 2-OHE1 is the most abundant catechol estrogen in the body.
2-Methoxyestrone (2-ME1) is an endogenous, naturally occurring methoxylated catechol estrogen and metabolite of estrone that is formed by catechol O-methyltransferase via the intermediate 2-hydroxyestrone. Unlike estrone but similarly to 2-hydroxyestrone and 2-methoxyestradiol, 2-methoxyestrone has very low affinity for the estrogen receptor and lacks significant estrogenic activity.
4-Methoxyestradiol (4-ME2) is an endogenous, naturally occurring methoxylated catechol estrogen and metabolite of estradiol that is formed by catechol O-methyltransferase via the intermediate 4-hydroxyestradiol. It has estrogenic activity similarly to estrone and 4-hydroxyestrone.
4-Methoxyestrone (4-ME1) is an endogenous, naturally occurring methoxylated catechol estrogen and metabolite of estrone that is formed by catechol O-methyltransferase via the intermediate 4-hydroxyestrone. It has estrogenic activity similarly to estrone and 4-hydroxyestrone.
The hydroxylation of estradiol is one of the major routes of metabolism of the estrogen steroid hormone estradiol. It is hydroxylated into the catechol estrogens 2-hydroxyestradiol and 4-hydroxyestradiol and into estriol (16α-hydroxyestradiol), reactions which are catalyzed by cytochrome P450 enzymes predominantly in the liver, but also in various other tissues.
2-Methoxyestriol (2-MeO-E3) is an endogenous estrogen metabolite. It is specifically a metabolite of estriol and 2-hydroxyestriol. It has negligible affinity for the estrogen receptors and no estrogenic activity. However, 2-methoxyestriol does have some non-estrogen receptor-mediated cholesterol-lowering effects.
Estradiol 3-glucuronide 17β-sulfate (E2-3G-17S) is an endogenous estrogen conjugate and metabolite of estradiol. It is related to estradiol 3-sulfate and estradiol 17β-glucuronide. Estradiol 3-glucuronide 17β-sulfate has 0.0001% of the relative binding affinity of estradiol for the ERα, one of the two estrogen receptors (ERs). It shows less than one million-fold lower potency in activating the estrogen receptors relative to estradiol in vitro.
11β-Chloromethylestradiol is a synthetic steroidal estrogen which was never marketed. It has very high affinity for the estrogen receptor and dissociates from it relatively slowly. It was originally thought that 11β-CME2 might be a covalent ligand of the estrogen receptors, but its binding was subsequently shown to be fully reversible. The relative binding affinity of 11β-CME2 for the estrogen receptors ranges from 230 to 3,320% of that of estradiol depending on the study. 11β-CME2 also has about 14% of the relative binding affinity of estradiol for sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). The compound has been developed as a radiolabel for the ERs.
15α-Hydroxyestradiol (15α-OH-E2) is an endogenous estrogen which occurs during pregnancy. It is structurally related to estriol (16α-hydroxyestradiol) and estetrol.
