Temporal dynamics of uterine immune microenvironment remodeling in a murine model of adenomyosis

Marlyne Squatrito, Julie Vervier, Laëtitia Bernet, Alessandra Camboni, Marie-Madeleine Dolmans, Marie‐Madeleine Dolmans, Carine Munaut
Molecular human reproduction · 2025 · vol. 31(4) · doi:10.1093/molehr/gaaf057 · PMID:41298316 · W4416772223
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study in a murine adenomyosis model found that early disease development involves elevated IL-6, altered macrophage populations, enriched B cells, and a shift in T-cell subsets, indicating dynamic immune microenvironment remodeling.

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Abstract

Adenomyosis-the ectopic presence of endometrial glands and stroma within the myometrium-affects reproductive-age women and is associated with pain, bleeding, and subfertility, yet the immune events that precede pregnancy remain poorly defined. To address this, we investigated how the uterine immune microenvironment evolves before conception in a tamoxifen-induced murine model of adenomyosis. At 1- and 3-months post-induction, we analyzed uterine tissue by immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We found that adenomyotic uteri exhibited a sustained elevation of interleukin-6 messenger RNA, a transient interleukin-10 rise at 1 month, and stable cyclooxygenase-2 levels. Interleukin-6 receptor messenger RNA and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 messenger RNA were both transiently downregulated at 1 month and returned to control levels by 3 months. Early in disease development, total macrophage numbers declined and displayed an alternative (M2) activation phenotype, followed by a selective loss of classically activated (M1) macrophages at later stages. B lymphocytes were consistently enriched, indicating enhanced humoral activity. Although overall T-cell counts remained stable, the CD3+ compartment underwent a marked shift from double-negative T lymphocytes toward T-helper and cytotoxic subsets, coinciding with the transient signaling changes. Limitations of our study include reliance on a single animal model, analysis at only two timepoints, and a lack of functional assessment of regulatory T cells. Future work should incorporate finer temporal profiling, single-cell transcriptomics, and validation in human tissues. These findings highlight dynamic innate-adaptive crosstalk as an early driver of adenomyosis pathology and suggest that targeting interleukin-6-mediated pathways may inform biomarker development and novel immunomodulatory interventions.

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Condition tags

adenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Uterus Uterus Uterus

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (50)

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