Specific Local Predictors That Reflect the Tropism of Endometriosis-A Multiple Immunohistochemistry Technique

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 10; p. 5614
• Main Authors: Istrate-Ofiţeru, Anca-Maria, Berbecaru, Elena-Iuliana-Anamaria, Zorilă, George-Lucian, Roşu, Gabriela-Camelia, Dîră, Laurențiu Mihai, Comănescu, Cristina Maria, Drăguşin, Roxana Cristina, Ruican, Dan, Nagy, Rodica Daniela, Iliescu, Dominic Gabriel, Mogoantă, Laurențiu, Pirici, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Abdomen; Adenomyosis; Blood vessels; CD20 antigen; CD3 antigen; CD34 antigen; Cell proliferation; Comparative analysis; Cysts; Endometriosis; Endometriosis - pathology; Endometrium; Epithelium; Estrogen receptors; Estrogens; Female; histology; Humans; Hysterectomy; Immunohistochemistry; Immunology; Infertility; Inflammation; Ki-67 Antigen; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes B; Lymphocytes T; Macrophages; Menstruation; Metastases; Microenvironments; Ovarian cancer; p53 Protein; Pain; Progesterone; Prospective Studies; PTEN protein; Transplants & implants; Tropism; Tryptase; Tryptases; Tumor suppressor genes; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; Tumors; Womens health; endometriosis; immunohistochemistry; histology; adenomyosis
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105614

Ectopic endometrial epithelium associates a wide spectrum of symptomatology. Their evolution can be influenced by inflammatory and vascular changes, that affect not only the structure and cell proliferation rate, but also symptoms. This prospective study involved tissue samples from surgically treated patients, stained using classical histotechniques and immunohistochemistry. We assessed ectopic endometrial glands (CK7+, CK20-), adjacent blood vessels (CD34+), estrogen/progesterone hormone receptors (ER+, PR+), inflammatory cells (CD3+, CD20+, CD68+, Tryptase+), rate of inflammatory cells (Ki67+) and oncoproteins (BCL2+, PTEN+, p53+) involved in the development of endometriosis/adenomyosis. A CK7+/CK20- expression profile was present in the ectopic epithelium and differentiated it from digestive metastases. ER+/PR+ were present in all cases analyzed. We found an increased vascularity (CD34+) in the areas with abdominal endometriosis and CD3+-:T-lymphocytes, CD20+-:B-lymphocytes, CD68+:macrophages, and Tryptase+: mastocytes were abundant, especially in cases with adenomyosis as a marker of proinflammatory microenvironment. In addition, we found a significantly higher division index-(Ki67+) in the areas with adenomyosis, and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes-p53+ in areas with neoplastic changes. The inflammatory/vascular/hormonal mechanisms trigger endometriosis progression and neoplastic changes increasing local pain. Furthermore, they may represent future therapeutic targets. Simultaneous-multiple immunohistochemical labelling represents a valuable technique for rapidly detecting cellular features that facilitate comparative analysis of the studied predictors.