Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in eutopic endometrium and ovarian endometriotic tissue in women with severe endometriosis.

Background/aims: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level and pattern of cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) expression in endometriosis and to investigate the correlation between the expression of Cox-2 and several clinicosurgical parameters.

Methods: Twenty-six patients with endometriosis and 21 patients with other benign gynecological conditions were enrolled. The eutopic endometrium was sampled by pipelle, and fragments of ovarian endometrioma and non-endometriotic ovarian cysts were sampled during surgery.

Bone mineral density, arterial stiffness, and coronary atherosclerosis in healthy postmenopausal women.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between bone mineral density (BMD), arterial stiffness, and coronary atherosclerosis in healthy postmenopausal women.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 152 postmenopausal women who visited the health promotion center for a routine checkup, after excluding participants who had factors affecting BMD and coronary artery disease. BMD was evaluated by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in the lumbar spine and femur.

Endometrial osteopontin mRNA expression and plasma osteopontin levels are increased in patients with endometriosis.

Problem: The aim of this study was to evaluate osteopontin (OPN) mRNA expression in eutopic endometrium and plasma OPN levels in patients with endometriosis.

Method Of Study: A total of 79 patients with histologically confirmed endometriosis and 43 patients without endometriosis participated in this study. OPN mRNA expression in endometrial tissues was measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and plasma concentrations of OPN were quantified using a specific commercial sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).

Implication of ADAM-8, -9, -10, -12, -15, -17, and ADAMTS-1 in implantational remodeling of a mouse uterus.

In the present study, whether the ADAM-8, -9, -10, -12, -15, -17, and ADAMTS-1 proteins might play a role in mouse uterus during periimplantation period was investigated. Immunoblotting analyses demonstrated that all ADAM proteins consistently appeared throughout days 1 to 8 of pregnancy but with a variation depending on the species of ADAM gene, the progression of pregnancy, and the site of the uterus. Immunohistochemical analyses indicated that ADAM proteins were localized in the luminal or glandular epithelial layers with a varying intensity depending on the species of ADAM and the progression of pregnancy.

Hysteroscopic endometrial ablation as a treatment for abnormal uterine bleeding in patients with renal transplants.

Study Objective: To assess the effectiveness and safety of hysteroscopic endometrial ablation as a surgical management of abnormal uterine bleeding that develops in patients with renal transplants.

Design: Retrospective study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).

Setting: Yonsei University Medical College, Severance Hospital.

Expression of integrins, cyclooxygenases and matrix metalloproteinases in three-dimensional human endometrial cell culture system.

The objective of this investigation was to establish a three-dimensionally cultured human endometrium which could be used as a tissue model for the mechanism study of implantation in vitro. By using human endometrial stromal (ES) and epithelial cells (EE) from hysterectomy specimens, reconstruction of endometrium in culture was established by first layering a collagen gel containing ES cells, then overlaying with the Matrigel containing endometrial epithelial (EE) cells. Ultrastructural examination of the 48 h-endometrial cell culture revealed monolayered columnar EE cells with microvilli on the collagen layer containing ES cells and appearance of the tight junctions and desmosomes between EE cells, a cell layer closely resembling the native endometrium.

Endometriosis in an adolescent population: the severance hospital in Korean experience.

The records of adolescent patients (10-21), who were admitted to the severance hospital between 1990 and 1999, were reviewed retrospectively to evaluate the age distribution, diagnosis, clinical stage, and treatment for endometriosis in adolescents. Thirty-nine patients who had undergone a laparotomy or laparoscopy and were diagnosed with endometriosis were identified. Endometriosis was classified according to the revised American Fertility Society classification (AFS).