Article
Article
Estrogen
Article By:
Miller, Virginia M. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Last reviewed:February 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.242600
The common name for the steroid hormone 17β-estradiol. Estrogen (17β-estradiol; Fig. 1) is an important steroid hormone that aids mammalian sexual and reproductive development. In mammalian females, estrogen maintains secondary sex characters and organs, including the uterus, vagina, mammary glands, and fallopian tubes. In mammalian males and females, estrogen also affects the function of nonreproductive organs, including the brain, heart, blood vessels, bone, gastrointestinal tract, urogenital tract, skin, thyroid, and liver, accounting, in part, for sex differences observed in the prevalence and symptomatology of some diseases. In addition to estrogen, other significant estrogenic hormone substances in mammals include estrone, estriol, and catechol estrogens (Fig. 1). See also: Hormone; Mammalia; Reproductive system; Steroid
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