Expression of heme oxygenase in the eutopic and ectopic endometrium in patients with adenomyosis

Yuki Iwahara, Akiko Nagai, Naoyuki Yoshiki, Kaori Igarashi, Kimihiro Yamashita, Toshiro Kubota
Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology · 2012 · vol. 28(11) , pp. 892–896 · doi:10.3109/09513590.2012.683064 · PMID:22559824 · W2023777292
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 5 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study confirmed HO-1 and HO-2 expression in adenomyosis endometrium, finding lower levels and lost cyclic variability in ectopic tissue compared to eutopic tissue.

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

Abstract

Heme oxygenase (HO) is the rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of heme into iron, carbon monoxide, and biliverdin. This enzyme has important functions in cellular homeostasis, including the regulation of oxidative load, apoptosis, and inflammation. Two isoforms of HO, the inducible HO-1 and the constitutive HO-2, are expressed and are known to play a role in the normal human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle, but there is little evidence for HO expression and behavior in adenomyosis, which is the occurrence of intramural ectopic endometrial tissue. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and localization of the two HO isoforms in both eutopic and ectopic endometrium of women with adenomyosis during the menstrual cycle. The oxidative stress and apoptosis related to HO-1 expression were also assessed. The expression of HO-1 and HO-2 in both eutopic and ectopic endometrium was confirmed, and their levels in the ectopic endometrium were lower than those in the eutopic endometrium. The cyclic variability of HO expression was lost in the ectopic endometrium during the menstrual cycle, whereas this variability was apparent in the eutopic endometrium. Moreover, HO-1 expression corresponded to apoptotic events in the eutopic endometrium. Constitutive HO-2 expression corresponded to endometrial proliferation and degradation. These results reveal that both HO-1 and HO-2 contribute little in the pathophysiology of adenomyosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

adenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Adenomyosis Endometrium Heme Oxygenase-1 Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) Adenomyosis Apoptosis Endometrium Female Heme Oxygenase-1 Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) Humans Menstrual Cycle Menstrual Cycle Oxidative Stress

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 (26)

Cited by (5)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-20T06:14:18.781669+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:16:17.081435+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK