Expression Of Matrix Metalloproteinase And Tissue Inhibitor Of Metalloproteinase In Endometriosis

Objective: To investigate the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase -2,-3 (MMP-2,-3) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2(TIMP-2) in ectopic endometriosis tissue and endometrium from women with and without endometriosis throughout the menstrual cycle.Methods: Immunohistochemical staining of tissues was performed to study the expressions and locations of MMP-2, MMP-3,TIMP-2 between women with and without endometriosis. The mRNA expressions of MMP-2,MMP-3,TIMP-2 were assayed by real-time PCR.Result(s): (1)Ectopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis expressed higher levels of MMP-2 and MMP-3 and lower levers of TIMP-2. MMP-2 and MMP-3 were detected strongly in both stromal and epithelial cells in ectopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis, while they were mostly detected in the epithelial cells in the control group. All eutopic and ectopic endometrium samples from women with and without endometriosis throughout the menstrual cycle showed similar expressionsof MMP-2, MMP-3 and TIMP-2. (2)Quantitative expressions of MMP-2 mRNA, MMP-3 mRNA and TIMP-2 mRNA were significantly lower in eutopic endometrium from controls compared with ectopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis. Eutopic endometrium from controls in the proliferative phase showed significantly increased expressions of MMP-2 mRNA compared with that in the secretory phase. Eutopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis expressed significantly less MMP-3 mRNA than did eutopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis during the secretory phase. (3) The expressions of MMP-2 were not related to that of TIMP-2, nor did the expressions of MMP-3 to that of TIMP-2. The correlation coefficient between MMP-2 mRNA and TIMP-2 mRNA was 0.593 and that between MMP-3 mRNA and TIMP-2 mRNA was 0.201,which were all significant.Conclusion^): The results suggest that ectopic endometrium with endometriosis may be more invasive and prone to peritoneal implantation because of greater MMP-2 and MMP-3 and less TIMP-2 expressions than endometrium from women without endometriosis. And increased MMP-2 mRNA and MMP-3 mRNA may help to explain the higher protein activities, hi the presence of excess TIMP-2 mRNA, there were lower expressions of TMP-2 in the ectopic endometrium of endometriosis patients, which may be resulted from other complex mechanisms in gene translations and in protein regulations.