Expressions of TLR4 and MyD88 in eutopic and ectopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis

Aim: To investigate the expressions and clinical significance of the Toll-like receptor 4 ( TLR4) mediated pathway via myeloid differentiation factor 88 ( MyD88) in eutopic and ectopic endometrium of endometriosis( EMs) . Meth-ods: A total of 45 cases of EMs were selected( EMs group,15 cases atⅠ and Ⅱstage,30 cases at Ⅲ and Ⅳ stage) ,and 45 cases of ectopic endometrium ( ectopic endometrium group) ,and 30 cases of eutopic endometrium ( eutopic endometri-um group) were obtained. During the same period,30 patients with septate uterus undergoing hysteroscopic surgery were selected as control group and their uterine endometrium was obtained. The expressions of TLR4 and MyD88 in the above groups were evaluated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemical technique ( SP) . Results: The expressions of TLR4 and MyD88 mRNA and protein in ectopic endometrium group,eutopic endometrium group,and control group were statisti-cally significant ( F mRNA = 37. 541,38. 669,F protein = 46. 707,31. 046,P 0. 001) . Those in ectopic endometrium group and eutop-ic endometrium group were significantly higher than those in control group( P 0. 01) ,and those in ectopic endometrium group were significantly higher than those in eutopic endometrium group( P 0. 01) . No significant difference of the expressions of TLR4 and MyD88 mRNA and protein were found between early stage and advanced stage of EMs( t mRNA = 1. 373,1. 574,t protein = 0. 299,0. 066,P 0. 05) . Correlation was found between the mRNA and protein expression levels of TLR4 and MyD88 in both ec-topic endometrium group( r = 0. 594 and 0. 560,P 0. 001) and eutopic endometrium group ( r = 0. 812 and 0. 639,P 0. 001) . Conclusion: The high expressions of TLR4 and MyD88 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of EMs.