Smooth muscles are frequent components of endometriotic lesions

V Anaf, Vincent Anaf, P Simon, I Fayt, J Noel
Human Reproduction · 2000 · vol. 15(4) , pp. 767–771 · doi:10.1093/humrep/15.4.767 · PMID:10739817 · W2117538656
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 149 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Immunohistochemistry revealed smooth muscle cells are frequent components of various pelvic endometriotic lesions, exceeding their abundance in unaffected tissue, suggesting a role in pathogenesis.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Deep infiltrating endometriosis (deeper than 5 mm under the peritoneum) often takes the form of a nodular lesion (or 'adenomyotic nodule') consisting of smooth muscles and fibrosis with active glands and scanty stroma. Thus, among endometriotic lesions, a certain distinction is drawn between musculo-glandular lesions and glandular lesions composed of endometrial-like epithelium surrounded by a cell-producing (cytogenous) stroma. The aim of this study was to detect by immunohistochemistry, with a monoclonal antibody against muscle-specific actin, the presence of smooth muscles in 54 endometriotic lesions originating from four different pelvic locations (peritoneum, ovary, rectovaginal septum and uterosacral ligaments) and to quantify the smooth muscle content. Smooth muscles were frequent components of endometriotic lesions in pelvic locations. In addition, smooth muscles were significantly (P < 0. 001) more abundant in endometriotic lesions than in their respective unaffected sites. This finding supports, at least partially, the occurrence of a metaplastic phenomenon in the pathogenesis of endometriotic lesions. The definition of distinct endometriotic entities based on the difference in the tissue composition of the lesions (endometriotic nodules versus adenomyotic nodules) is inconsistent with the very frequent presence of smooth muscle cells in endometriosis irrespective of its localization.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisdie_deep_infiltrating

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Muscle, Smooth Actins Actins Adult Antibodies, Monoclonal Endometriosis Female Humans Immunohistochemistry Ligaments Ligaments Muscle, Smooth Muscle, Smooth Ovary Ovary Peritoneum Peritoneum Rectum Sacrum

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 (30)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:13:41.710148+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK