[A study on the production of CA125 antigen using tissue culture of eutopic and heterotopic endometrium]

The possibility of the endometrial production of CA125 and the effect of P4, MPA, and E2 were investigated using tissue cultures of eutopic endometrium (uterine endometrium obtained from uterine myoma) and heterotopic endometrium (uterine myometrium obtained from adenomyosis). CA125 was detected in eutopic endometrium before culture, its concentration being significantly higher in tissues obtained during the early proliferative phases than in those obtained during the early secretion. On the other hand, no significant changes in the tissue concentrations of CA125 before culture were found in heterotopic endometrium during a menstrual cycle. In the heterotopic endometrium, in the production of CA125 in the medium was higher than that in the eutopic one. The data on CA125 in the culture medium also indicated that the production was significantly higher during the proliferative phases than during secretion. Cycloheximide significantly decreased the concentrations of CA125 in the medium and in tissues of the eutopic and heterotopic endometrium. The production of CA125 was not affected by the addition of P4, but MPA significantly inhibited the in-vitro production of CA125, which could no longer be observed when E2 was simultaneously added to the medium. These results indicated that not only the eutopic but also the heterotopic endometrium could produce CA125, and this ability seems to be more marked in the heterotopic than that in the eutopic endometrium, especially during the secretory phases. This study demonstrated one of the causes of increased serum CA125 in patients with adenomyosis.