The expression of the autophagy gene beclin-1 mRNA and protein in ectopic and eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis.

Longyu Zhang, Ying Liu, Yuping Xu, Huan Wu, Zhaolian Wei, Yunxia Cao
International journal of fertility & sterility · 2015 · vol. 8(4) , pp. 429–36 · doi:10.22074/ijfs.2015.4183 · PMID:25780525 · PMC4355304 · W2254824124
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 17 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study found that both eutopic and ectopic endometria in endometriosis patients express lower levels of Beclin-1 mRNA and protein compared to women without endometriosis, with Beclin-1 protein negatively correlating with serum CA125.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study examined Beclin-1 mRNA and protein expression in uterine endometrium from 26 women without endometriosis and compared it with eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues from 26 patients with endometriosis, using reverse transcription PCR and Western blotting. Both eutopic and ectopic endometriotic tissues showed significantly lower Beclin-1 mRNA and protein levels than endometrium from control women (p < 0.05). Serum CA125 was higher in the endometriosis group, and in patients with endometriosis Beclin-1 protein expression in eutopic endometrium was negatively correlated with CA125 levels (r = -0.57, p < 0.01). The authors conclude Beclin-1 may play a role in the formation and progression of endometriosis, while the study design is limited by its relatively small sample size and focus on expression measurements rather than functional outcomes. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it investigates Beclin-1 autophagy gene expression in ectopic versus eutopic endometrium and relates it to CA125.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: To investigate the expression of Beclin-1 mRNA and protein in eutopic and ectopic endometrium of women with and without endometriosis, and evaluate the association of Beclin-1 protein expression and serum CA125 levels in the endometriosis group due to CA125 being a well-known biomarker of endometriosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression levels (mean ± SD) of the mRNA and protein of Beclin-1 were examined in uterine endometria from 26 women without endometriosis and in eutopic and ectopic endometria from 26 endometriosis patients through experimental study, as reverse transcription PCR and Western-blotting assays. Serum CA125 levels in the endometriosis and control groups were compared and the correlation between Beclin-1 protein expression and serum CA125 was evaluated in the endometriosis group. RESULTS: Both eutopic (0.12 ± 0.04, 1.25 ± 0.42) and ectopic (0.12 ± 0.05, 1.09 ± 0.50) endometriotic tissue from 26 women with endometriosis expressed significantly lower levels of Beclin-1 mRNA and protein than endometrium from 26 normal women (0.15 ± 0.02, 1.67 ± 0.44) (p<0.05). Serum CA125 levels were found to be significantly higher in the endometriosis group (p<0.05). In addition, Beclin-1 protein expression of eutopic endometria in patients with endometriosis was negatively correlated with serum CA125 (r= -0.57, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The present study strongly suggests that Beclin-1 may play a role in the formation and progression of endometriosis.

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endometriosis

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