Reduced innate lymphoid cells in the endometrium of women with endometriosis

Takuya Sugahara, Yukiko Tanaka, Masahide Hamaguchi, Maya Fujii, Koki Shimura, Kanae Ogawa, Taisuke Mori, Izumi Kusuki, Michiaki Fukui, Jo Kitawaki
American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2021 · vol. 87(1) , pp. e13502 · doi:10.1111/aji.13502 · PMID:34592011 · W3203624053
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 3 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Women with endometriosis exhibited reduced proportions of endometrial ILC2 and ILC3, while ovarian endometriomas showed increased ILC proportions compared to endometrium.

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Abstract

PROBLEM: Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), a recently discovered family of innate immune cells, are responsible for the early immune response, and control both innate and adapted immune system via cytokine secretion. The role of ILCs in endometriosis has not been investigated; therefore, here, we aimed to investigate how the proportion of ILCs changes in endometriosis. METHOD OF STUDY: cells was examined in the peripheral blood, peritoneal fluid, endometrium, and ovarian endometrioma obtained from women with and without endometriosis (ERB-C-1216) using flow cytometry. RESULTS: Specimens were obtained from 19 women with endometriosis and 15 without endometriosis. In the endometrium, patients with endometriosis had lower proportion of ILC2 and 3 compared to control specimens (ILC2: .02±.01% vs .07±.03%; P < .05, ILC3: .31±.14% vs 1.10±.93%; P < .05). There was no significant change in the peripheral blood or the peritoneal fluid between the two groups. Additionally, ovarian endometrioma increased the proportion of ILCs (ILC1: .92±1.12%, ILC2: .08±.08%, ILC3: .70±.39%) compared to the endometrium samples of patients with endometriosis each with P < .05. Immunohistochemistry of IL-1β and IL-23, which are ILC3-inducing factors, showed no significant change in the H-score of the epithelium of the two groups, but a significant increase was found in ovarian endometrioma. CONCLUSION: The proportion of ILC2 and 3 was reduced in the endometrium of patients with endometriosis, and ILCs were increased in ovarian endometrioma. Our findings may indicate a new immunological approach to understand the pathophysiology of endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosisendometrioma

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometrium Immunity, Innate Lymphocytes Adult Cytokines Cytokines Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Female Humans Immunity, Innate Lymphocytes Middle Aged Young Adult

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 (49)

Cited by (3)

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