Endometrium from women with and without endometriosis, and peritoneal, ovarian and bowel endometriosis, show different c-kit protein expression

Uzan C, Catherine Uzan, Cortez A, A. Cortez, Annie Cortez, Dufournet C, Charlotte Dufournet, Raffaèle Fauvet, R. Fauvet, Fauvet R, Jean-Pierre Siffroi, Jean‐Pierre Siffroi, Siffroi JP, Émile Daraï, Emile Daraï, Daraï E
Journal of Reproductive Immunology · 2005 · vol. 65(1) , pp. 55–63 · doi:10.1016/j.jri.2004.09.002 · PMID:15694967 · W1987549654
Other 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, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study investigated c-kit protein expression in the endometrium of women with and without endometriosis, as well as in peritoneal, ovarian, and bowel endometriosis lesions, revealing distinct expression patterns.

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

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is defined by the presence of endometrium outside the uterus. Changes in the expression of the proto-oncogene c-kit are associated with aggressive behaviour of both benign and malignant tumours, but there are few data on its c-kit expression in endometriosis. Here we examined c-kit expression in endometrium and endometriotic tissue. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used for qualitative and semi-quantitative (mean+/-S.D. positive cells) analysis of c-kit expression in endometrium from women with (n=9) and without endometriosis (n=18), and in peritoneal (n=20), ovarian (n=20) and colorectal endometriosis (n=20). RESULTS: Semi-quantitative c-kit expression was higher in endometrial glandular cells from women with endometriosis than from women without endometriosis (15.0+/-14.6% versus 3.9+/-7.4%, p=0.01). No difference in c-kit expression was found in qualitative analysis and according to the phase of the menstrual cycle. C-kit expression values in peritoneal, ovarian and colorectal endometriosis were 2.0+/-3.8%, 2.0+/-4.1% and 21.7+/-18.4%, respectively. Qualitative and semi-quantitative c-kit expression was higher in colorectal endometriosis than in peritoneal and ovarian endometriosis (p<0.001); no difference was found between ovarian and peritoneal endometriosis. No c-kit expression was detected in stromal cells of either endometrium or endometriotic tissue. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the c-kit/stem cell factor axis is involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Strong c-kit protein expression was associated with invasive endometriotic lesions.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisbowel_endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometrium Gene Expression Regulation Gene Expression Regulation Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit Adult Adult Colon Colon Colon Colon Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Endometrium Female Female Humans

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

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. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (47)

Cited by (18)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-13T06:10:10.580696+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:02:56.066688+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK