Objective: To evaluate for the presence of oxidatively modified lipid-protein complexes in endometriosis and endometrium of women with endometriosis and controls.
Design: Controlled clinical study.
Setting: Academic tertiary care center.
Patient(s): Women undergoing surgery for pelvic pain, infertility, endometriosis, or tubal ligation controls.
Intervention(s): Biopsy of endometrium and endometriosis.
Main outcome measure(s): Staining with antibodies to oxidatively modified lipid proteins (HNE-7, MDA2), macrophages (HAM-56), and muscle cell actin (HHF-35).
Result(s): Both endometrium and endometriosis tissues contain stromal cells that immunostain with HAM-56 and show immunostaining (both intracellular and extracellular) with HNE-7 and MDA2. Some endometriotic implants show patchy staining with HHF-35. Endometrium was devoid of staining with HHF-35. Control staining with nonimmune sera in both tissues was also devoid of staining.
Conclusion(s): These data strongly implicate the occurrence of oxidative stress in endometriosis tissue. These data also suggest that oxidative modification is a normal physiological process in endometrium.