Abstract | OBJECTIVE: DESIGN: Samples of ovarian endometriotic and healthy endometrial tissues were processed by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. SETTING: Academic health centers in Siena, Italy, and Belo Horizonte, Brazil. PATIENT(S): Women with endometrioma who underwent laparoscopic excision of ovarian endometriotic cysts (n = 16), and healthy, nonpregnant women (n = 18, control group). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): RESULT(S): Both ovarian endometriosis and healthy endometrium expressed and localized follistatin and FLRG. In endometriotic glands, follistatin immunostaining was homogeneously distributed throughout the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells, contrasting with normal eutopic endometrium, where follistatin expression was focal, irregular, and confined to the basal side of the glands. Follistatin-like protein was immunolocalized in the nuclei of both glandular epithelial cells and stromal cells, with less intense staining in endometriotic samples. The relative intensity of follistatin and FLRG immunostaining was significantly higher and lower, respectively, in endometriosis than in controls. The expression of follistatin mRNA was higher, while that of FLRG mRNA was lower, in ovarian endometriosis than in healthy eutopic endometrium. CONCLUSION(S):
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Authors | Paulo B Torres, Pasquale Florio, Marcia C Ferreira, Michela Torricelli, Fernando M Reis, Felice Petraglia |
Journal | Fertility and sterility
(Fertil Steril)
Vol. 88
Issue 1
Pg. 200-5
(Jul 2007)
ISSN: 1556-5653 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 17296189
(Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Follistatin
- Follistatin-Related Proteins
- activin A
- Activins
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Topics |
- Activins
(metabolism, physiology)
- Adult
- Cell Differentiation
(genetics)
- Endometriosis
(genetics, metabolism, pathology)
- Female
- Follistatin
(biosynthesis, genetics, metabolism)
- Follistatin-Related Proteins
(biosynthesis, genetics, metabolism)
- Gene Expression Regulation
(physiology)
- Humans
- Neovascularization, Pathologic
(metabolism)
- Ovarian Diseases
(genetics, metabolism, physiopathology)
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