CLTA-4 Expression Is Associated with the Maintenance of Chronic Inflammation in Endometriosis and Infertility

Monika Abramiuk, Dominika Bębnowska, Rafał Hrynkiewicz, Paulina Niedźwiedzka‐Rystwej, Jan Kotarski, Grzegorz Polak, Jacek Roliński, Ewelina Grywalska
Cells · 2021 · vol. 10(3) , pp. 487 · doi:10.3390/cells10030487 · PMID:33668701 · PMC7996292 · W3132992194
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 7 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study found increased CTLA-4 expression on T cells in patients with more advanced endometriosis and a correlation between CTLA-4+ T cells and reduced NK/NKT-like cells in women with endometriosis and infertility.

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

Abstract

Altered immune mechanisms are implicated in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. CTLA-4 is a membrane receptor that favors the anergic state of lymphocytes, which may disrupt the immune system response in the endometriotic environment. In this study, we examined the expression of CTLA-4 on T and B cells by flow cytometry and its levels in blood serum and peritoneal fluid by ELISA. Levels of CTLA-4+ T cells were significantly higher in patients with more advanced endometriosis than in those with less advanced disease. Additionally, the negative correlation of CTLA-4+ T lymphocytes and the percentage of NK and NKT-like cells in women with endometriosis and infertility may indicate a different etiopathogenesis of endometriosis accompanying infertility. Our findings shed light on the potential of CTLA-4 in developing new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in endometriosis management.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_paininfertility

MeSH descriptors

CTLA-4 Antigen Endometriosis Infertility Inflammation Adult Antigens, CD19 Antigens, CD19 Ascitic Fluid Ascitic Fluid B-Lymphocytes B-Lymphocytes Case-Control Studies CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes Chronic Disease CTLA-4 Antigen CTLA-4 Antigen Endometriosis

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 (40)

Cited by (7)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-12T06:13:51.797165+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:24:49.034193+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK