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Updated: Jul 20, 2026
Mouse Model of Surgically-induced Endometriosis by Auto-transplantation of Uterine Tissue
Published on: January 6, 2012
Altered expression of interleukin-18 in the ectopic and eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis
Qiong Luo1, Weixuan Ning, Yanting Wu
1Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, China.
Objective:
This study has investigated the expression of interleukin (IL)-18 in the eutopic and ectopic endometrium of women with endometriosis and the role of IL-18 on the pathogenesis of endometriosis.
Methods:
Endometriotic tissue specimens and endometrium specimens were obtained from patients with endometriosis. IL-18 protein was determined by immunohistochemical analysis. Expression levels of IL-18 mRNA were analyzed by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR.
Results:
IL-18 was detected in the glandular epithelial and stromal cells of eutopic and ectopic endometrium. RT-PCR analysis showed that endometrial IL-18 mRNA expression levels were significantly higher at the secretory phase than the proliferative phase in normal women, but not in patients with endometriosis. IL-18 mRNA expression levels were lower in the ectopic endometrium than in the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis. IL-18 mRNA levels in both ectopic and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis were lower than in endometrium of women without endometriosis.
Conclusion:
Ectopic and eutopic endometrial IL-18 was down-regulated in women with endometriosis, suggesting that IL-18 might play a pathogenic role in the formation of endometriosis.
