Increased expression of stemness genes REX-1, OCT4, NANOG, and SOX-2 in women with ovarian endometriosis versus normal endometrium: A case-control study

Background: Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease which is defined as an overgrowth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The etiology of this disease is complex and multifactorial but there is a strong evidence that supports the presence of endometrial stem cells and t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fatameh Shariati, Raha Favaedi, Fariba Ramazanali, Pegah Ghoraeian, Parvaneh Afsharian, Behrouz Aflatoonian, Reza Aflatoonian, Maryam Shahhoseini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences 2018-12-01
Series:International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.ssu.ac.ir/ijrmnew/article-1-1334-en.html
Description
Summary:Background: Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease which is defined as an overgrowth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The etiology of this disease is complex and multifactorial but there is a strong evidence that supports the presence of endometrial stem cells and their possible involvement in endometriosis. Objective: In this study, we analyzed the mRNA expression of REX-1 stemness gene and reconsidered three other stemness genes SOX-2, NANOG, OCT-4 in women with endometriosis compared to normal endometrium. Materials and Methods: Ten ectopic and ten eutopic tissue samples along with 23 normal endometrium specimens were recruited in this study. The expression levels of OCT-4, NANOG, SOX-2, and REX-1 genes were evaluated by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: The transcription levels of OCT-4, NANOG, and SOX-2 mRNA were significantly increased in ectopic lesions compared with eutopic and control group (p = 0.041, p = 0.035, p = 0.048), although the REX-1 mRNA increase was not significant between endometriosis and control groups. Also, there were differences in the expression level of these genes in normal endometrium during the menstrual cycles (p = 0.031, p = 0.047, p = 0.031). Conclusion: Based on our data, we confirm the dynamic role of stemness genes in proliferation and growth of normal endometrium during the menstrual cycle and conclude that differential expression
ISSN:2476-4108
2476-3772