Journal
REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCES
Volume 16, Issue 6, Pages 559-572Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/1933719109332825
Keywords
Endometriosis; endometrium; glycosylation; ultrastructure; human
Categories
Funding
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD/NIH [U54 HD 40093]
- Reproductive Medicine Fund (LGN)
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Endometrial curettings from a cohort of 24 women with endometriosis were compared with matched biopsies from 14 healthy, fertile women and examined for ultrastructural changes and the secretion of glycans bound by the lectin from Dolichos biflorus. Ultrastructural analysis of glandular endometrial tissue from women with state I and III endometriosis showed heterogeneous responses to the disease, biopsies often showing a mixture of features, combining delays in the maturation sequence with characteristics of later phenotypes particularly in the mid-late secretory phase of the menstrual cycle. Expression of glycans bound by Dolichos biflorus agglutinin was very variable in these cases but generally matched the observed ultrastructure. Biopsies from women with stage IV endometriosis showed immature gland morphology later in the cycle and also failed to express Dolichos biflorus agglutinin-binding glycans, suggesting an association between histological and biochemical function in advanced disease states. These findings may explain in part endometriosis-associated subfertility as blastocyst attachment is intimately associated with appropriate glycosylation and gland morphology.
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