[Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and thrombospondin-1 in the ectopic and eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis]

OBJECTIVE: To detect the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and thrombospondin (TSP)-1 mRNA in the ectopic and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis. METHODS: Thirty-two specimens of ovarian endometrioma, 12 red peritoneal lesion, 8 uterosacral ligament nodule, and 30 matched eutopic endometrium were biopsied from 38 patients with endometriosis, another 25 specimens of endometrium were biopsied from women without endometriosis. Reverse transcript-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Northern Blot analysis were utilized to examine VEGF mRNA and TSP-1 mRNA expression and their relative levels in the above endometrium. RESULTS: Among endometriotic lesions, red peritoneal lesion expressed higher level of VEGF and lower level of TSP-1, whereas ovarian endometrioma expressed lower level VEGF and higher level of TSP-1. Eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis had higer level of VEGF expression and lower level of TSP-1 expression than women without endometriosis. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of VEGF and TSP-1 in endometriotic lesion appears to be associated with its neovalscualization extent. The imbalance in expression of VEGF and TSP-1 in endometrium might be related to the development of endometriosis and its biological behavior.