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Coexpression of cytokeratin and vimentin in eutopic endometrium and endometriosis throughout the menstrual cycle:
M Nisolle1, F Casanas-Roux, J Donnez
1Department of Gynecology, Catholic University of Louvain, St. Luc Hospital, Brussels, Belgium.
Objective:
To evaluate quantitatively cytokeratin and vimentin staining in glandular and stromal cells of eutopic and ectopic endometrium.
Design:
The investigation of cytokeratin and vimentin was carried out using the new computerized technology of image analysis.
Setting:
University Hospital, Department of Gynecology.
Patients:
Biopsies were taken from patients undergoing a laparoscopy for infertility (29 endometrial biopsies and 31 biopsies of peritoneal endometriosis). None of them were treated.
Results:
Cyclic variations of cytokeratin and vimentin staining were noted in eutopic endometrium. The cytokeratin and vimentin staining pattern consistently was lower in ectopic endometrium than in eutopic endometrium.
Conclusions:
Endometriotic epithelial and stromal cells undergo a complex program of differentiation giving them histochemical characteristics similar to those observed in endometrium. Such a concomitant expression of antigenicity indicates their close relationship with their mesodermal müllerian origin.