Insights into inflammatory gene expression in endometriosis: a comparative evaluation of tissue biopsy samples

Objective Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by ectopic growth of endometrial-like tissue. Cytokines play pivotal roles in coordinating tissue inflammation and immune responses. Therefore, some pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines may be involved or altered in endometriosis were assessed in this study.

The expression levels of the reference gene ribosomal protein lateral stalk subunit P (RPLP) and interest genes, including interleukin 17 (IL-17), IL-23, IL-25, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and forkhead box P3 (FoxP3), were measured in the endometriotic tissues of 25 individuals with endometriosis and in the endometrial tissues of 25 control individuals. The cDNA was synthesized from the extracted RNAs, and these expression levels were analyzed using Real-time PCR.

VEGF and FoxP3 were not expressed in endometriotic tissues, while non-endometriotic tissues in control group showed significant levels (VEGF: 4.41 × 10³±1.38 × 10³, FoxP3: 12.3 × 10³±4.18 × 10³; both P = 0.001). IL-17, IL-23, and IL-25 were not detected in either group. The RPLP was only expressed, indicating the presence of some viable active cells in this tissue, which was significantly lower than in controls (P = 0.001). The undetectable level of VEGF in endometriosis suggests that there was no active angiogenesis.

Accordingly, in endometriosis tissue, lymphocytes might be absent or not play a significant role, but the expression of the structural RPLP indicates the presence of some viable, active cells in this tissue. The roles of the immune system and angiogenesis are multidimensional, involved in different stages, from inflammation to immune tolerance. This underscores the importance of other growth factors, which require careful assessment and individualized treatment strategies to address each patient’s specific needs. Similar content being viewed by others Data availability The author confirms that all necessary data analyzed during this study are included in this article. The more information or additional data are, available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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The authors wish to thank the vice-chancellor of deputy research for financial support (grant number 4002019) and the patients participating in this study. Funding This work was supported by the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran [Grant number: 4002019]. Author information Authors and Affiliations Contributions Data analysis, reviewing and finalizing the manuscript: L.H and M.J; Doing experiments. S.A.G and S. A.P: manuscript drafting and analyzing Data: S.G: research director, conception and design of the study. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Corresponding author Ethics declarations Declarations We have not used any AI tools or technologies to prepare this manuscript. Ethics approval and consent to participate All procedures involving human participants complied with ethical standards set by the institutional and national research committees, as well as the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its revisions. This study received approval from the Research Ethics Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (IR.MUMS.MEDICAL.REC.1401.503), and informed consent was obtained from all participants. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Additional information Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Rights and permissions Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. About this article Cite this article Hafizi, L., Jafari, M., Ahmadi Ghezeldasht, S. et al. Insights into inflammatory gene expression in endometriosis: a comparative evaluation of tissue biopsy samples. Mol Biol Rep 52, 753 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-025-10856-x Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-025-10856-x