Human endometriosis is associated with plasma cells and overexpression of B lymphocyte stimulator

Aniko Hever, Anikó Hevér, Richard B Roth, Peter Hevezi, Maria E Marin, M. Esther Valverde Marin, Jose A Acosta, Hector Acosta, Héctor Acosta, José M. Rojas, Jose Rojas, Rosa María Blanca Herrera, Rosa Herrera, Dimitri Grigoriadis, Dimitri E. Grigoriadis, E.C. White, Evan White, Paul Conlon, Paul J Conlon, Richard A Maki, Albert Zlotnik
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2007 · vol. 104(30) , pp. 12451–12456 · doi:10.1073/pnas.0703451104 · PMID:17640886 · W2011696346
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 157 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Endometriosis lesions show abundant plasma cells and macrophages producing B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS), which is also elevated in patient serum, suggesting an autoimmune mechanism involving BLyS-responsive plasma cells.

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Abstract

Endometriosis affects 10-20% of women of reproductive age and is associated with pelvic pain and infertility, and its pathogenesis is not well understood. We used genomewide transcriptional profiling to characterize endometriosis and found that it exhibits a gene expression signature consistent with an underlying autoimmune mechanism. Endometriosis lesions are characterized by the presence of abundant plasma cells, many of which produce IgM, and macrophages that produce BLyS/BAFF/TNFSF13B, a member of the TNF superfamily implicated in other autoimmune diseases. B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) protein was found elevated in the serum of endometriosis patients. These observations suggest a model for the pathology of endometriosis where BLyS-responsive plasma cells interact with retrograde menstrual tissues to give rise to endometriosis lesions.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

B-Cell Activating Factor Endometriosis Endometriosis Gene Expression Regulation Plasma Cells B-Cell Activating Factor B-Cell Activating Factor B-Cell Activating Factor B-Cell Maturation Antigen B-Cell Maturation Antigen B-Cell Maturation Antigen Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Macrophages Macrophages Macrophages Plasma Cells

Citation neighborhood

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References (48)

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