[Study on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with adenomyosis of the uterus].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of angiogenesis and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the pathophysiology of adenomyosis of the uterus. METHODS: The study included 32 patients with histologically proven adenomyosis and 30 patients with asymptomatic leiomyoma of the uterus. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect VEGF expression in different parts of the uterus. A computerized morphometric study on the VEGF expression was performed. RESULTS: The VEGF H-Score of glandular cells in the endometrium of adenomyosis uterus [proliferative phase (9.6 +/- 1.4), secretory phase (11.7 +/- 1.6)] was much higher than that of leiomyoma uterus [proliferative phase (8.3 +/- 1.7), secretory phase (10.2 +/- 1.5)] (P < 0.05), and increased in the secretory phase (P < 0.05). Compared with eutopic endometrium, the VEGF H-Score in ectopic endometrium [proliferative phase (11.9 +/- 1.8), secretory phase (13.0 +/- 1.7)] increased significantly (P 0.05). The VEGF H-Score of myometrium around the ectopic lesions [proliferative phase (9.5 +/- 1.3), secretory phase (8.7 +/- 1.3)] was higher than that of normal myometrium [proliferative phase (4.8 +/- 1.9), secretory phase (4.5 +/- 1.4)] (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The angiogenesis activity of the endometrium and myometrium of adenomyosis uterus was markedly increased.