The development of the female reproductive tract can be divided into three parts consisting of Müllerian duct organogenesis, pre-sexual maturation organ development, and post-sexual maturation hormonal regulation. In primates, Müllerian duct organogenesis proceeds in an estrogen independent fashion based on transcriptional pathways that are suppressed in males by the presence of AMH and SRY. However, clinical experience indicates that exposure to xenoestrogens such as diethylstilbestrol (DES) during critical periods including late organogenesis and pre-sexual maturational development can have substantial effects on uterine morphology, and confer increased risk of disease states later in life. Recent evidence has demonstrated that these effects are in part due to epigenetic regulation of gene expression, both in the form of aberrant CpG methylation, and accompanying histone modifications. While xenoestrogens and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMS) both can induce non-canonical binding confirmations in estrogen receptors, the primate specific fetal estrogens Estriol and Estetrol may act in a similar fashion to alter gene expression through tissue specific epigenetic modulation.

女性生殖道的发育可分为苗勒管器官发生、性成熟前器官发育和性成熟后激素调节三个部分。在灵长类动物中，苗勒管器官发生以一种雌激素独立的方式进行，其基于在雄性中被 AMH 和 SRY 的存在抑制的转录途径。然而，临床经验表明，在器官形成后期和性成熟前发育等关键时期暴露于异雌激素如己烯雌酚 (DES) 会对子宫形态产生重大影响，并增加生命后期疾病状态的风险。最近的证据表明，这些影响部分是由于基因表达的表观遗传调控，两者都以异常 CpG 甲基化的形式，以及伴随的组蛋白修饰。虽然异种雌激素和选择性雌激素受体调节剂 (SERMS) 都可以在雌激素受体中诱导非经典结合确认，但灵长类动物特异性胎儿雌激素雌三醇和雌三醇可能以类似的方式通过组织特异性表观遗传调节改变基因表达。