Expressions and correlation of nuclear factor-kappaB and vascular endothelial growth factor in endometriosis

AIM: To investigate the expressions of nuclear factor-kappaB(NF-κB) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) proteins in endometriosis(EM), and to evaluate the correlation between NF-κB and VEGF expressions. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the NF-κB and VEGF protein expression in 35 specimens of normal endometrium,48 of eutopic endometrium of endometriosis and 76 of ectopic endometrium, and the results were analyzed with SPSS11.0 statistical software. RESULTS: The expressions of NF-κB and VEGF were mainly found in the glandular epithelial cells of the 3 kinds of endometrium, with the ectopic endometriotic tissues showing the highest and the normal endometrium showing the lowest expression (P 0.05). Both NF-κB and VEGF expressions in proliferative phase were significantly lower than those in secretory phase of normal and ectopic endometria (P0.05). Furthermore, the expressions of NF-κB and VEGF proteins were positively correlated in normal endometria, eutopic and ectopic endometria (rs=0.660, 0.733 and 0.827, respectively, P0.01). CONCLUSION: NF-κB and VEGF proteins are highly expressed and show a positive correlation in EM, which suggests that they may participate in the pathogenesis of EM.