Expression Deficiency of 17-Hydroxysteroid DehydrogenaseII in Ectopic Endometrium of Endometriosis

Objective To study the expression of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenaseⅡ(17β-HSDⅡ) in the ectopic and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis. Methods RT-PCR was used to assess 17β-HSDⅡ messenger RNA(mRNA) expression in 67 ectopic and 32 eutopic endometrium with endometriosis,and compared with the 35 cases of normal endometrium. Results In normal uterine endometrium the expression of 17β-HSDⅡ mRNA presented weak in the late proliferative phase and gradually increased in the secretory phase,and the highest in the late secretory phase. 17β-HSDⅡ RNA expression was not appared in ectopic endometrium of endometriosis. In the eutopic endometrium of endometriosis of the expression of 17β-HSDⅡ mRNA was lower than normal uterine endometrium(P0.01) also. Conclusion Deficiency of 17β-HSDⅡ expression in the endometrium may elicie disturbance of local estrogen metabolism and promotes overgrowth of ectopic endometrium.