Study On The Expression Of E-cadherin And β-catenin In Endometrial And Endometriotic Tissue Of Patients With Endometriosis

Objective: Endometriosis, a disease of unclear etiopathogenesis, is a quite common problem in gynecology. It is thought that the retrograde flow of the menstrual debris to the peritoneal cavity plays an important role in the origin of endometriosis, but the mechanism of endometrial cells adhesion and implantation remains unknown. Recently many centers have reported the importance of adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin and β -catenin in this process.To study the expression of E-cadherin and P-catenin in endometrial and endometriotic tissue of patients with endometriosis and compare the difference of expression in different stage of Endometriosis. Methods: 24 patients with endometriosis were staged and the expression of E-cadherin and β -catenin in endometrial and endometriotic tissue were studied respectively by immunohistochemistry method. With the same method, the endometrial tissue of 21 patients without endometriosis was sdudied as the control group. Results: 1. Our study reveals that E-cadherin and β -catenin are only expressedon the glandular epithelial cells of endometrial and endometriotic tissue, while their expression are negative in stroma cells.2. The expression of E-cadherin and β -catenin in endometrial tissue of normal women are different in different phases of menstrual cycle: the expression of secretory phase was stronger than that of proliferative phase (p<0.05) .3. Compared with the control group, the expression of E-cadherin andβ-catenin in endometrial tissue of patients with endometriosis show no difference between the secretory phase and the proliferative phase during the mesentrual cycle. Furthermore, the expression of E-cadherin and b-catenin in endometrial tissue of normal women is stronger than that of patients with endometriosis(p<0.05).4. In patients with endometriosis, the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin in endometriotic tissue was stronger than that of endometrial tissue(p<0.01).5. In patients with endometriosis of different stages, the expression of E-cadherin and β -catenin in stage I and II was weaker than that of stage III and IV(p<0.05).Conclusions:1. the abnormal expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin in endometriotictissue and endometrial tissue has close relationship with the etiologyof endometriosis.2. Both E-cadherin and β-catenin play different roles at diffent stages of endometriosis.