The expression of 5-LOX in endometriosis and the relationship with angionesis

Objective To investigate the expression of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) in endometriosis and analyze the relationship of 5-LOX and angionesis in endometriosis. Methods Immunochemical method was used to determine the expression of 5-LOX, VEGF, and the value of MVD in ectopic endometrium (ec-topic group) and eutopic endometrium (eutopic group) of 32 patients with EMs and in eutopic endometrium ( control group) of 25 patients without EMs. Result The expressions of 5-LOX and VECF and the value of MVD in ectopic groups were 0. 43 ± 0.09,0. 39 ±0.07 and 0.40 ± 0.09, respectively, which were higher than that of eutopic group and control group. The expressions of 5-LOX and VEGF and the value of MVD in eutopic group were 0. 35 ± 0. 08, 0.30 ± 0. 06 and 0. 33 ± 0. 08, respectively, which were higher than that of control group ( P <0.05). In ectopic group, the expressions of 5-LOX and VEGF, and the value of MVD in stage III/IV, were much higher than that of stage I/II ( P <0. 05); the expressions of 5-LOX and VEGF and the value of MVD were related to the severe of endometriosis through Spearman correlation analysis. The expressions of 5-LOX were shown to be significantly related to the expressions of VEGF and the value of MVD in ectopic and eutopic groups ( P <0. 05). Conclusion There is a high expression of 5-LOX in endometriosis, suggesting that 5-LOX may be participate in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. 5-LOX may promote angiogenesis of EMs through up - regulating the expression of VEGF. Key words: Arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase/ME;  Endometriosis/ME;  Neovascularization, pathologic;  Vascular endothelial growth factors/ME;  Capillaries