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Original Article
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Korean J Obstet Gynecol. 2011;54(8):441-447. Published online August 1, 2011.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5468/KJOG.2011.54.8.441
- Expression of membrane type-2 and -3 matrix metalloproteinases in eutopic endometrium of women with advanced endometriosis.
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Hyun Kyung Chung, Ji Young Lee, Kyung A Jeong, Hye Won Chung
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1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. hyewon@ewha.ac.kr
2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- Abstract
- OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression of messenger RNA (mRNA) for membrane type-2 matrix metalloproteinases (MT2-MMPs) and MT3-MMP and compare their expression pattern in women with severe endometriosis and normal controls. METHODS: Quantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction was performed to evaluate the mRNA expression of MT2-MMP and MT3-MMP in endometrium from 36 women with severe endometriosis and 52 women without endometriosis throughout the menstrual cycle. RESULTS: Eutopic endometrium from women with endometriosis expressed higher levels of MT3-MMP than that from normal women in secretory phase (P < 0.05). MT2-MMP expression from eutopic endometrium showed no significant differences between patients with endometriosis and controls. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that eutopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis may be more proteolytic, angiogenic and prone to growth because of greater MT3-MMP expression than endometrium from women without endometriosis. Thus, increased proteolytic and angiogenic activities may be one of the explanations of the pathogenesis of endometriosis.
Keywords :Membrane type-2 matrix metalloproteinases;Membrane type-3 matrix metalloproteinases;Endometriosis
