[Regulatory effects of mifepristone and progesterone on the secretion of interleukin-6 by cultured eutopic and etopic endometrial cells]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the regulatory effects of mifepristone and progesterone on the secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6) by endometrial and endometriosis cells in vitro. METHODS: Primary cultures of eutopic and ectopic endometrial cells from 9 cases of endometriosis were exposed to mifepristone (10(-6) mol/L, 10(-4) mol/L) and progesterone (1 x 10(-7) mol/L, 1 x 10(-5) mol/L) respectively. IL-6 secretion was analyzed in the culture medium by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELSA). RESULTS: Mifepristone inhibited the IL-6 secretion of ectopic endometrial cells, with the concentrations of IL-6 was (1 914.33 +/- 799.28) microg/L in the 1 x 10(-6) mol/L group (P < 0.01) and (990.25 +/- 58.40) microg/L in the 10(-4) mol/L group (P < 0.01). Progesterone also inhibited IL-6 secretion of ectopic endometrial cells, with (2 575.89 +/- 119.75) microg/L in the 1 x 10(-7) mol/L group (P < 0.05) and (1 736.25 +/- 750.89) microg/L in the 10(-5) mol/L group (P < 0.01). Mifepristone restrained the secretion of IL-6 by eutopic endometrial cells, with (346.96 < or = 24.32) microg/L in the 1 x 10(-6) mol/L group (P < 0.01) and (270.22 +/- 36.15) microg/L in the 1 x 10(-4) mol/L group (P < 0.01). All the effects of down regulation were more obvious when the concentrations of mifepristone and progesterone increased (P 0.05). CONCLUSION: The inhibitory effects on the secretion of IL-6 by ectopic and (or) eutopic endometrium may provide one of the cellular therapeutic mechanisms of mifepristone and progesterone on endometriosis.