Neurotrimin, a neural adhesion molecule, expression in early and advanced stage endometriosis

Endometriosis, a gynecological condition characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus, affects millions of women worldwide. This study aimed to investigate neurotrimin (NTM)'s expression, a glycerophosphatidylinositol-anchored neural adhesion molecule, in endometriotic lesions and eutopic endometrial tissue.

In this laboratory based observational study NTM expression was measured in patients with early- and advanced-stage endometriosis and controls (patients without endometriosis who underwent gynecological surgery. Peritoneal endometriosis (peritoneum for controls) and eutopic endometrial tissue samples were collected from patients. Polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect NTM in the tissue samples. Additionally, NTM levels in peripheral blood samples of all participants were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

NTM mRNA and protein levels were significantly higher in the endometriotic foci of the stage 3-4 endometriosis group than in the control group (p<0.01). Stage 1-2 endometriotic foci showed significantly higher NTM IHC staining than the control group; however, no significant difference was found between the mRNA levels. Eutopic endometrial tissue from the stage 3-4 group had significantly higher NTM mRNA levels than the other groups. No significant difference was found between the control and stage 1-2 groups for eutopic tissue. Eutopic endometrial NTM IHC staining did not differ between groups. No significant difference was observed in peripheral blood NTM levels.

This study found increased NTM expression, a neural adhesion molecule, especially in advanced endometriosis. The endometrial tissue of patients with early-stage endometriosis also showed increased NTM expression in ectopic locations but not in eutopic tissue.