Effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha and soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor type 1 on cultured eutopic endometrial stromal cells from endometriosis

Objective:To explore the effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-2) and soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor type 1(STNFRI) on cultured eutopic endometrial stromal cells from patients with endometriosis(EMs) and to find a new target for biological therapy for EMs. Methods: Eutopic endometrial stromal cells from 10 patients with EMs were cultured, purified and identified. Collected stromal cells were treated with various concentrations of TNF-α and sTNFRⅠin 96 well plate. The effects were observed by MTT method. IL-8 in culture supernatant was detected by enzyme-linked immuno-assay( ELISA). Results: TNF-α could remarkably enhance the proliferation of the stromal cells from EMs in a dose-dependent fashion through inducing IL-8 expression . The proliferation of stromal cells from EMs induced by TNF-α was inhibited by sTNFRⅠ. Conclusion: TNF-α promotes the proliferation of EMs stromal cells probablely through inducing IL-8 expression and TNF-α action mediated by IL-8 may contribute to the pathogenesis of EMs. sTNFRⅠmay be the potential target for biological therapy for endometriosis.