Expression and Significance of TLR3 in Eutopic and Ectopic Endometrium from Women with Endometriosis

Objective To investigate the expression of TLR3 in endometrium from women without endometriosis and in eutopic and ectopic endometrium from women with endometriosis,exploring the role of TLR3 in the occurrence and development of endometriosis.Methods Ectopic(n=45) and homologous eutopic endometrium(n=32) from women with endometriosis and endometrium from women without endometriosis(n=32) were used for immunohistochemical analysis of TLR3.Results All endometrial samples from patients with endometriosis and healthy controls showed cytoplasmic TLR3 immunoreactivities mainly in the luminal and glandular epithelium.The expression of TLR3 in eutopic endometrium and the ectopic endometrium was weaker than the normal control group(P 0.01),but there was no significant difference between ectopic and eutopic endometrium of endometriosis(P 0.05).No statistically significant difference was found in the ectopic endometrial expression of TLR3 between Ⅰ~Ⅱ stage and Ⅲ~Ⅳ stage of endometriosis(P 0.05).Conclusion The decreased expression of TLR3 might play a role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.There was no correlation between the expression of TLR3 and clinical stages.