Is adenomyosis an immune disease?

H Ota, S Igarashi, J Hatazawa, T Tanaka
Human reproduction update · 1998 · vol. 4(4) , pp. 360–367 · doi:10.1093/humupd/4.4.360 · PMID:9825851 · W2149514761
review OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 95 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

Adenomyosis involves activated cellular and humoral immune responses, including autoantibodies and immunoglobulin deposition, indicating an immunological basis for the disease.

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Abstract

Adenomyosis is characterized as ectopic endometrial tissues within the myometrium in the uterus. The only difference between adenomyosis and endometriosis is the site of endometriotic tissues: inside or outside of the uterus. It is well known that endometriosis is frequently associated with various autoimmune phenomena. This short review covers various aspects of the immune cascade found in adenomyosis. In adenomyosis, a series of immune responses is activated, including changes in both cellular and humoral immunity, i.e. a strong expression of cell surface antigens or adhesion molecules, an increased number of macrophages or immune cells, and deposition of immunoglobulins and complement components. Furthermore, the disease exhibited high frequency of autoantibodies in peripheral blood. Thus, an immunological 'vicious circle' is formed in the endometrium in adenomyosis. Endometrial cells seem to be under immunological stress, protecting themselves by exposing heat shock proteins. It is concluded that the endometrial environment in adenomyosis differs widely from that in normal fertile women. These abnormal immune responses might be involved in poor reproductive performance in adenomyosis.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisadenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Autoantibodies Autoantibodies Cell Adhesion Molecules Complement System Proteins Endometriosis Female Humans Infertility, Female Integrins Lymphocyte Activation Macrophage Activation

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 (100)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

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License: CC0 · commercial use OK