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Human Reproduction, Vol. 11, No. 12, pp. 2713-2718, 1996
© 1996 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

research-article

Uterus and endometrium: Immunohistochemical localization of extracellular matrix proteins in luteal phase endometrium of fertile and infertile patients

D.A. Bilalis1, L.D. Klentzeris2 and S. Fleming3

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK

Correspondence: 3To whom correspondence should be addressed

The lack of expression of certain components involved in cell adhesion and migration is believed to contribute to endometrial dysfunction and implantation failure. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether luteal phase endometrium in women with unexplained infertility differs, with respect to specific extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, from endometrium of normal fertile women. A panel of monoclonal antibodies to collagen type IV, fibronectin and laminin was used to characterize the localization of ECM components in the different endometrial compartments. Precisely timed endometrial biopsies obtained at 4, 7, 10 and 13 days following the luteinizing hormone surge were obtained from 22 normal fertile women (group 1) and 24 women suffering from unexplained infertility (group 2). Paraffin-embedded sections were labelled using the streptavidin-biotin alkaline phosphatase technique. In group 1, collagen type IV, fibronectin and laminin were absent from the luminal epithelium but present in stromal cells and the basement membrane of glands and blood vessels. In group 2, these components were absent from all endometrial regions using equivalent titres of antibody to those used in group 1. This suggests that the endometrium of women with unexplained infertility demonstrates defects in the distribution of certain ECM glycoproteins. A possible consequence of this defect may be implantation failure.

Key words: endometrium/extracellular matrix proteins/fertile/infertile/luteal phase

1Present address: Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Birmingham Maternity Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TG, UK

2Present address: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Biological Sciences, University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL, UK


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