【Abstract】 Objective To investigate the changes and possible role of estrogen and its receptor ERβ in the pathogenesis of primary gout arthritis. Methods The peripheral blood of 36 acute gout patients (AG), 36 interval gout patients (IG), 37 chronic gout patients (CG), 44 asymptomatic hyperuricemia patients (HUA) and 38 healthy controls (HC) were collected. The expression of estradiol (E2) in serum was detected by the Chemiluminescent Microparticle Immunoassay (CMIA). The expression of ERβ mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was measured using Real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Statistical Package forme Sociscience (SPSS) 170 statistical software was used for analysis. The measurement data were compared by wilcoxon rank sum test or one factor analysis of variance test. The correlation between variables was used by Spearman correlation analysis. Results The expression of E2 in serum of HC group was significantly higher than that in the HUA, AG, IG and CG group (P＜0.05). The expression of E2 in AG group was lower than that in the HUA, IG and CG group (P＜0.05). The expression of E2 in IG group was lower than that in the HUA group (P＜0.05 ). There was no significant difference among CG, HUA and IG group (P＞0.05). The expression of ERβ mRNA in PBMCs of HC group was significantly increased. The expression of E2 in HUA group was higher than that in the AG, IG and CG group (P＜0.05). The expression of E2 of AG group was lower than that in the IG group (P＜0.05 ). There were no significant difference among expression of E2 of CG, AG and IG group (P＞0.05). The Spearman correlation analysis found that the expression of E2 and ERβ mRNA in the HC, HUA, AG, IG an CG group was no correlation(P＞0.05). Conclusion The expression of E2 and ERβ mRNA in peripheral blood of patients with GA was significantly decreased, suggesting that the estrogen and its receptor ERβ may be involved in the pathogenesis of gouty arthritis.