Study of ultrastructure and apoptosis in the endometrium of women with\nor without endometriosis

Background: More than 40% of infertilities are due to endometriosis.\nUltrustructural and histochemical study of endometrium will help to\nclarify the etiology of endometriosis. Objective: The aim of the\npresent study was to investigate the ultrastructure and occurrence of\napoptosis in endometrial cells of women with or without endometriosis.\nMaterials and Methods: In the present case-control study, endometrial\nspecimens from 12 women without endometriosis (as control) and 12 women\nwith endometriosis (as case) were examined. Specimens for control group\nwere obtained from the patients that were referred to gynecology\nhospital for hysterectomy due to various reasons. In case group the\nendometriosis was diagnosed according to laparoscopy and endometrial\nsamples were taken using pippel biopsy. The specimens from both case\nand control groups were processed for Transmission Electron Microscopy\n(TEM), TUNEL reaction technique and morphometric studies. Results: The\nresults show that endometrial epithelium lost its continuity in women\nwith endometriosis and endometrial cells have euchromatic nucleus in\ncomparison to those from non–endometriosis. There were several\napoptotic cells in the luminal and glandular endometrial epithelium and\nstroma from endometrium of control group. However, apoptotic cells were\nrarely seen in the endometrium from women with endometriosis. The\ndifference in number of apoptotic cells between two groups statically\nwas significant (p<0.001).Conclusion: Regarding the ultrastructural\ncharacteristics of endometrial epithelial cells and comparison of\napoptotic occurrence in control and case groups it is concluded that\nendometrial cells in endometriosis group have higher potential to\nsurvive and possibly implant.