Bariatric surgery alters estradiol availability and estrogen receptor alpha activity in postmenopausal women

The specific aims are to determine if bariatric surgery in postmenopausal women that results in the loss of 25% of excess body weight: Aim 1: Alters hormone concentrations in the breast tissue: Estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), testosterone, androstenedione, leptin, adiponectin, 27-hydoxycholesterol (27HC) will be compared in serum and tissue. Aim 2: Alters ERα mediated genomic DNA-binding events and transcription in breast ductal epithelial cells Aim 3: Alters morphology (atypia) and protein expression in duct epithelial cells: adipokines (leptin, adiponectin), estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα, aromatase, signal activators of transcription 3 (STAT-3)