Expressions of c-kit receptor and vascular endothelial growth factor in endometriosis

Objective:To investigate the expression of c-kit receptor and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in ectopic and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis.Methods:Immunohistochemical technique(SABC method) was used to examine the expression of c-kit and VEGF in the ectopic and eutopic endometria from 34 patients with endometriosis and 30 normal endometria(control group).Results:In the group of ectopic and eutopic endometrium,positive c-kit expression of the mean optical density (MOD) was higher than that of the controls,and the similar results were also found regarding VEGF (P0.05).C-kit and VEGF expression in both groups of ectopic and eutopic endometrium and controls were up-regulated in secretory endometrium as compared with proliferative phase.Also,the expression in eutopic endometria during both secretory and proliferative phase was higher than that of controls in corresponding phase.C-kit expression was positively correlated with VEGF in the groups of ectopic and eqtopic endometria(P0.05).Conclusion:C-kit receptor and VEGF may play a key role in the development and progression of endometriosis in terms of the strong association between them in angiogenesis.The receptor and the factor might provide new target for therapy of endometriosis.