Human Reproduction, Vol. 19, No. 2, 393-397,
February 2004
© 2004 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Analysis of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in different sites of endometriosis and correlation with clinico-pathological parameters
1 Department of Gynecological Oncology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Campobasso, 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and 3 Department of Pathology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome and 4 Department of Pathology and 5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sacred Heart Hospital, Negrar (VR), Italy
6 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Catholic University, L.go A.Gemelli, 8, 00168 Rome, Italy. e-mail: giovanni.scambia{at}libero.it
BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated the overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in endometriosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of COX-2 in different anatomical sites of endometriosis and its association with clinico-pathological parameters in a single institutional series of patients undergoing operative treatment. METHODS: COX-2 expression was analysed by immunohistochemistry in 136 samples of endometriotic tissue from 103 patients affected by endometriosis. RESULTS: COX-2 immunoreaction was observed in 78.5% of ovarian endometriotic cysts, in 11.1% of peritoneal implants and 13.3% of recto-vaginal nodules. COX-2 positivity was not distributed differently according to age, pre-operative serum levels of CA125 and AFS score. Moreover, COX-2 positivity did not show any significant variation according to the subjective intensity of pain, as dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain, lower urinary tract or gastrointestinal symptoms, or according to infertility. CONCLUSIONS: Increased COX-2 expression in the endometriotic ovarian cyst wall was observed with respect to other extraovarian localizations. No relevant correlations between COX-2 positivity and clinico-pathological characteristics and symptoms of patients were observed.
Key words: clinico-pathological characteristics/COX-2/endometriosis
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