Whole explants of peritoneum and endometrium: a novel model of the early endometriosis lesion

C A Witz, Craig A. Witz, Witz CA, Iris A Monotoya-Rodriguez, Monotoya-Rodriguez IA, I A Monotoya-Rodriguez, Robert S. Schenken, R S Schenken, Schenken RS
Fertility and sterility · 1999 · vol. 71(1) , pp. 56–60 · doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(98)00400-2 · PMID:9935116 · W2027877713
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This study introduces a novel model using whole explants of peritoneum and endometrium to investigate the development of early endometriosis lesions.

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Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine whether whole fragments of endometrium can adhere to peritoneum with intact mesothelium.DesignTissue culture and immunohistochemical study.SettingUniversity medical center.Patient(s)Reproductive-age women undergoing surgery for benign conditions.Intervention(s)Explants of human peritoneum from the anterior abdominal wall and the posterior surface of the uterus were cultured with whole fragments of mechanically dispersed endometrium.Main outcome measure(s)Adhesion of endometrial fragments to the surface of the peritoneum was evaluated. Adherent endometrium was identified with the use of the dissecting microscope and by the performance of serial sections of the peritoneum explants. Immunohistochemical staining of the mesothelium with antibodies to cytokeratin was used to ensure an intact layer of mesothelium beneath the endometrial implants. Transmission electron microscopy also was used to evaluate this adhesion process.Result(s)Endometrium was identified attached to the surface of the peritoneum. Most of the implants did not have identifiable mesothelium beneath them, but most had intact mesothelium running up to the point of attachment. Approximately 10% of the endometrial implants had intact mesothelium at the site of attachment. Endometrial stromal cells, and not epithelium, attached to the mesothelium.Conclusion(s)Endometrium can attach to the mesothelial surface of the peritoneum. Endometrial stromal cells are involved in this attachment. Invasion through the mesothelium seems to occur rapidly.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometrium Peritoneum Adult Cell Adhesion Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Endometrium Epithelium Epithelium Female Humans Immunohistochemistry Microscopy, Electron Organ Culture Techniques Peritoneum Peritoneum Peritoneum Stromal Cells

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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.

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