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Published on: October 13, 2023
Immunohistochemical detection of heparanase-1 expression in eutopic and ectopic endometrium from women with
Xiulong Xu1, Jianchi Ding, Helen Ding
1Department of General Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. xxu@rush.edu
Objective:
To investigate the expression of heparanase-1, an endoglycosidase that degrades heparan sulfate proteoglycans, in eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues from women with endometriosis.
Design:
An immunohistochemical study.
Setting:
Academic research laboratory and a private infertility clinic affiliated with a university medical center.
Patient(S):
Premenopausal women undergoing laparoscopy for endometriosis.
Intervention(S):
None.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Expression of heparanase-1 analyzed by immunohistochemical staining in 91 eutopic and 14 ectopic endometrial specimens.
Result(S):
We found that 17% (4/24) of the eutopic endometrial specimens in the early proliferative phase and 32% (9/28) of the samples in the midproliferative phase were heparanase-1 positive. However, >or=80% of eutopic endometrial specimens at late proliferate phase and at luteal phase were heparanase-1 positive. Twelve of 14 ectopic endometriotic specimens stained heparanase-1 positive. Comparison of heparanase-1 expression in paired eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues revealed that 5 of 6 ectopic specimens in the early proliferative phase were heparanase-1 positive, whereas only 1 eutopic specimen was heparanase-1 positive. In comparison with our recent study of heparanase-1 expression in normal endometrium, we found that there was no significant difference in heparanase-1 expression in the eutopic endometrium from women with or without endometriosis.
Conclusion(S):
Heparanase-1 was differentially expressed in the eutopic endometrium in the different menstrual phases. Heparanase-1 was highly expressed in the ectopic endometriotic lesions regardless of their menstrual phases, suggesting that the local environment is responsible for increased heparanase-1 expression.
