Endometrial stromal cells treated by tumor necrosis factor‐α stimulate macrophages polarized toward M2 via interleukin‐6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1

Min‐Zhen Li, Li MZ, Min-Zhen Li, Wu YH, Yahong Wu, Ya-Hong Wu, Ali M, Maria Ali, Wu XQ, Xian-Qing Wu, Xianqing Wu, Nie MF, Meifang Nie, Mei-Fang Nie
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research · 2020 · vol. 46(2) , pp. 293–301 · doi:10.1111/jog.14135 · PMID:31930665 · W3000003047
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 18 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

Endometrial stromal cells stimulated by TNF-α secrete IL-6 and MCP-1, polarizing macrophages toward M2, which plays a role in endometriosis.

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

Abstract

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effects of endometrial stromal cells (ESC)-derived interleukin (IL)-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 on macrophage polarization in endometriosis. METHODS: Macrophage polarization was measured in eutopic endometrium of control participants ('normal endometrium'), eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis ('eutopic endometrium') and ectopic endometrium of endometriosis patients ('ectopic endometrium') by immunohistochemical staining. Expression of IL-6 and MCP-1 were measured in the eutopic and ectopic endometrium through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Expression of CD163 was measured in human acute monocytic leukemia (THP-1) cell-derived macrophages that were treated with conditional medium induced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, TNF-α + anti-IL-6 or TNF-α + anti-MCP-1 via flow cytometry. RESULTS: The ratio of CD163+/CD68+ macrophages in the normal endometrium was higher than that in the eutopic endometrium, while differences between the eutopic and ectopic endometrium were not statistically significant. IL-6 and MCP-1 exhibited enhanced expression in the ectopic endometrium group and decreased expression in the eutopic endometrium group. TNF-α could promote the expression of ESC-derived IL-6 and MCP-1. Intervention with TNF-α-induced conditioned medium resulted in the upregulation of CD163 in THP-1 cells, while conditional medium induced with IL-6 and MCP-1 neutralizing antibodies decreased the proportion of CD163+ macrophages significantly. CONCLUSION: In endometriosis patients, the macrophages of the eutopic endometrium polarize toward M1 compared with the normal endometrium, and those of the ectopic endometrium were mainly M2-polarized. Under the action of TNF-α, ESC-derived IL-6 and MCP-1 could stimulate peritoneal macrophages toward M2-polarization, which could modulate endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Chemokine CCL2 Endometriosis Endometrium Interleukin-6 Antigens, CD Antigens, CD Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic CD163 Antigen CD68 Molecule Chemokine CCL2 Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Endometrium Female Humans Interleukin-6 Macrophages Macrophages

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 (33)

Cited by (18)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-08-28T06:11:01.063540+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:22:17.025735+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK