Differently expressed genes in the endometrium of women without endometriosis and in eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissue of patients with endometriosis

• Grant number: 09/53014-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2009
• End date: November 30, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Maternal and Child Health
• Principal Investigator: Rui Alberto Ferriani
• Grantee: Rui Alberto Ferriani
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Endometriosis is a benign disease that affects 10 to 15% of the female population. Different mechanisms are involved in the ectopic implantation and maintenance of the endometrial tissue, which are: dysfunctions on the immunity system, adhesion mechanisms, invasion and cellular proliferation and differentiation, altered apoptosis rate and angiogenesis. Interferences in the expression of genes involved in these biological processes may cause cellular homeostasis loss in the endometrial tissue, leading to the development of the disease. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of the PAEP, IGFBP1, RHOC, CALD1, SPARC, SPARCL1, GNB2L1, SI00A6, CD63 genes, which were identified by our team in a previous study, and also LOXL1, CCR1, TAGLN e PTEN genes, in eutopic and ectopic endometrial samples of 40 endometriotic women (20 with peritoneal lesions and 20 with ovarian lesions) in the proliferative and in the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle and endometrium samples of 30 normal women (15 in the proliferative and 15 in the secretory phase). It is a descriptive and comparative study with patients with and without endometriosis, aged 18 to 40 years, during reproductive age, that are not exposed to any kind of hormonal therapy for at least six months. All patients will be submitted to laparoscopy in order to confirm or exclude endometriosis. The control group will be constituted by fertile patients undergoing laparoscopy for tubal ligation. All samples will be frozen at -80°C embedded in tissue cryoprotector for posterior extraction, cDNA synthesis and real time PCR quantification. (AU)